My Life It's Not As Simple As You Think
by shadows-fang
Summary: well, this is my first time writing fiction. about a girl who's life mysteriously links to an ancient legend that takes place in the present. i suck at summary, i know. just read it! Remember to R&R! would really like to have your opinions! NO FLAMES PLS!
1. Chapter 1: The Angel In Me

_**Chapter 1:**__**The Angel In Me…**_

Story of my life._ "Don't show your weaknesses. Winners should win, losers should be punished."_ Not exactly the dramatic entrance I was looking for. You'd think that motto would be easy to follow (Although they both have the biggest contrasts on this planet.) since I lived without knowing my parents, lived in a big stony mansion I inherited and have no friends because they all think you're too good for them. Sounds like something out of an epic novel, right? But I'm being one hundred percent serious. I thought it was easy to follow too…. Until something strange happened…'

But first, let me introduce myself. I'm 17. My name is Rae Stone. Well… not exactly, I just make everybody call me that because it sounds better than my real name. Raven Delilah Romano Winterstone… the Second. Sounds weird doesn't it… the Delilah part? My parents wanted it after my great grandmother. Yeah, yeah. Have a good laugh about it. They probably threw that in for the fun of it. It gets pretty annoying when people talk about it and do the "You say whaaaa?" thing when I used to introduce myself by that name but I took care of that quite easily…

_(Flashback)_

"_YO, raven! SQUAWK! SQUAWK!" yelled a hundred pound piece of brawn and absolutely no brain. He signaled to me and everyone in the field started to laugh. I was in Junior High at the time. I had been waiting for this moment all week. I had prepared myself by punching my pillow multiple times and imagining his stupid grinning face all over it – which was easy. Today was going to be the day. I walked up to him and said "Lucas, first of all, ravens caw. Not squawk. If you can answer my question, I'll let you off easy. What's black and blue with blood all over?" He stared back with confusion written all over his stupid, fat, pudgy face and said "Huh?" I laughed and yelled "ENGK! Sorry, mite. But the correct answer is YOU!" Before anyone could react, I had Lucas face down on the grass as I punched him in the gut. Then the teacher came._

_(End of Flashback)_

Ah well, that guy deserved it anyway. Oh, and if you guys want to know what happened to me…. It wasn't detention. I sort of gave the teacher a tip…ok, ok so I bribed him. What's a girl with lots of pocket money to do? So what? It's not that big a deal…is it? Anyway, like I said, I took care of the name-calling quite easily. Some of the other problems were pretty minor so I won't bore you to tears with them. Now I live a boring civilized life like this. Well… if you called a passionately lonely and EMO…sorta life civilized. Now, enough introductions. Let me just tell you how all of this started…...…

I was pretty much _known_ in Bayside High School in the (G) section. Yes, that means gifted. Not that I believed that I was. *cough* How would I describe myself? Hmm… I had long black hair with silver streaks in it (I was bored); I got a body tattoo done. It was two dragons intertwining around my body with the two heads on my shoulders, blue eyes, and pale skin and was almost six feet tall (pretty impressive, eh? The wonders of milk). I played on the school's basketball team and did pretty well (meaning perfect score) in my exams. A lot of girls hated me. Mostly cheerleaders. How passé is that? All the guys in school kept trying to date x rape me. It was annoying. That's why I took up self defense. I get to live on the money my parents make at their big, humongo-ginormous company. I was pretty content with my old life.

It was a Friday when the incident happened. It was the same old day, same old school. As I walked into the class, every single guy looked up at me and gave me their usual jockey grins. I snarled at all of them and strode to my seat. The jocks in school described me as hot but with looks that kill. The seniors however, describe me with a look that says, 'cross me and you'll need a miracle'. The other girls just call me a stuck-up, snobby, brat, which was fine with me. Our class teacher, Mr. Fitzgerald walked in and straightened his desk with a sight grunt. The once noisy class became silent.

He started with History, which to me, was the, and my worst subject in the world. I would have excused myself to the bathroom until he started on a subject which I hadn't even started reading yet. It sounded strange because it had something to do with mythical winged creatures. Strangely enough, that topic intrigued me. But the horrible bit was when the teacher started handing out sheets of paper and told us to draw or write an essay of our opinion on the subject. I decided to draw since we were only given 20 minutes. Slowly my mind formed an image and I started to draw.

I was pretty satisfied with the wings, body and clothes until I had to draw the head, hair and face. I started to tap my pencil on the table top. Suddenly my hand went out of control and started to act as if it had a life of its own. My hand or 'It' started to draw the head the hair and to my horror. It started drawing the face. I closed my eyes and expected to see a ruined drawing. But, as I opened my eyes and looked down at the paper, a knot formed in the pit of my stomach. The face of the person in the drawing was….…me.

I was about to rub the whole thing out and write an essay instead but then… my back started to burn. It hurt so much I could have screamed in pain. Instead I gritted my teeth and tried to rub my picture out. Then the bell rang. Darn it! _'The bell is not a friend anymore. Its over!' _Mr. Fitzgerald started to collect my paper. My reflexes weren't as good today so I didn't snatch the paper back from him. He took one look at my drawing and wolf-whistled. I could have killed him. I really could. But since the topic he was teaching now was of interest to me…I decided not to. I waited impatiently for him to dismiss the class. Finally he cleared his throat and said "Class is dismissed. Good job everyone." I could have jumped for joy.

I grabbed my books and ran to my locker, dumped my stuff and ran to the bathroom. I splashed some cold water over my face, hoping that this was all the weird-ness for today. A few cheerleaders entered the bathroom holding bags of make-up and push-up bras. They glared at me and me at them. Stupid blonde bimbos. As I walked down the hall towards my locker I thought that nothing could make my day any worse….but BOY was I wrong.

_**In art class…**_

I felt relieved because art was one of my good subjects. But something really bad happened. I was innocently hanging around the front of the art room when all of a sudden, my back started to sear with pain. It was the sort of pain you get when it feels like you being torn apart. It hurt a lot. I could've sworn if the teacher, Mrs. Morris hadn't come. Fortunately, the pain subsided after a while. I sighed in relief and waited for the teacher to unlock the door. I walked in and set up my easel and simply started to sketch. All of a sudden I remembered about my hand and how strangely it had started acting on its own accord. I sighed. The only thing to do was to wait and hope it won't happen again. I started off with some light sketching before moving on to something more artistic.

A few more students started to come in and Mrs. Morris started the class. She started talking a lot and finally said "You may draw whatever you like. I will be going for a meeting now so keep quiet and do your work. She swept up her books and moved towards the door. All off a sudden she gave a shriek and dropped her books. Hastily she picked them up and looked up at the boy standing in front of the door. "You startled me young man. You are the new student I presume. Well then come on in." she said ushering a very tall guy about six feet two. He had long black hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, slender, but muscular at the same time and an Orlando Bloom face which I bet all the cheerleaders would willingly die for. I could already hear the squeals in the back. Shyly he stepped in and tilted his head to one side in an attempt to look at the classroom.

Mrs. Morris straightened her jacket and forced a smile. "Now then. Your name is…" The guy turned to Mrs. Morris and said "Cedric Darkbane." _'Darkbane? Who on this PLANET names their kid, Darkbane?_' was my initial reaction. Mrs. Morris nodded and dragged an easel to an empty space right beside me! _'HELLO! I requested an ALONE sitting position!'_ I thought hoping that she would hear me. But of course no one could. I caught a glimpse of the new student and saw that he was smiling at me. He held out a hand and said "Hey, my name's Cedric." I saw a few of the football players grinning at him. I could tell that they were probably thinking what an idiot he was to try and talk to me. So I decided to prove them wrong just to piss them off. I shook his hand and said "Rae Stone." He looked at me and back at my school book which read my real name. _'Well, shoot!' _But he just smiled and nodded.

"We're doing free drawing today." I added generously. _'Hmm…very unlike me.'_ I sighed, stood up and went to the pile of books stacked neatly in a corner, you know… for inspiration and stuff. Anyway, still undecided, went eenie-meenie-miney-moe and got a book of mythical creatures. Coincidence much? Sat down and let my mind go blank and let my creativity soar. _'Too poetic? Yeah, I think so too.'_ Completing the light sketch, I felt eyes burn into the back of my head and turned to see Cedric staring at me. _'What is your problem? Eyes, back to where they came from. NOW!'_ As if he heard my thoughts, he averted his eyes back to his easel.

_**30 minutes later…**_

The teacher came in and swooped down on me like a hawk. Smiling at my painting, she took a look at Cedric's. She looked at me and back at him "You are very lucky to have such WONDERFUL inspiration around you." I gave him a puzzled look and he grinned sheepishly, turning the easel around. I saw that he had sketched me and I gave him my best icy glare. Suddenly my back started to hurt again. It felt as if someone was trying to rip my shoulder blades out.

I bit back a yell and massaged my shoulders. Cedric looked at me and when the bell rang, whispered, "Meet me in the park after school." I looked at him with a 'are you out of your friggin mind' expression but nodded anyway. My shoulders still felt numb after class but I managed to survive the rest of the day. Which gave me lots of time to debate on whether to go to the park or not. I just met him and I wasn't even sure if he was some kind of crazy rapist. Finally I made my decision.

After school, I sighed and trudged towards the park. I used to play there as a kid…

_(Flashback)_

"_Hahahaha! Daddy stop chasing me. My side aches!" whined a five year old Raven. "Allright, sweetheart. By the way, mommy and I have to go somewhere again. On business so you can look after yourself at home right?" Little Raven looked at him with wild eyes "You're leaving again. You always leave. I should have expected it. I'll be fine on my own." He reached out but I had just pushed him away. "I'm so sorry sweetie." Those were always the words he pulled out before he went somewhere and didn't return for a couple of months. Even years. As soon as he had left, I ran over, flung myself into the swing and cried._

_(End of Flashback)_

I couldn't see anybody at the park so I went to one of the swings and gently rocked myself back and forth. Suddenly I saw Cedric coming out of the trees with a huge grey pelted wolf running beside him. I almost screamed but having faced so many years of conquering any kind of fear, I bit back and just eyed both of them suspiciously. Cedric grinned at me and kneeled down to whisper something in the wolf's ear. Immediately the animal lunged at me, knocking me off the swing and licked my face. I deigned to smile at the rare sign of affection and stroked its soft fur.

Cedric was giving me this weird look and suddenly I realized I was smiling. _'OMG! STOP LOOKING AT ME. ARGH! Okay, wolfy. Time to get off'_ I thought as I gently shoved the wolf off my lap and turned to scowl at Cedric. He stopped a few paces in front of me. "Do you have a cell phone?" I nodded, confused. "Call your parents. You won't be going home just yet." I winced a little then went back to eyeing him. "They're all the way in Japan and probably won't give a damn whatever happens to me. So if you're planning to kidnap me and hold me for ransom then give it up."

His eyes widened for a while then he turned motioning for me to follow him. There was a shed at the back of the park which I hadn't noticed before. There was a man with a long cloak and a hood that covered most of his head leaning on the door and when he saw us walking towards him he walked up to Cedric, whispered something inaudible and came up to me. _'Okay, girl. No panicking. Just stay calm and let the weird people speak to you.'_ The man stopped in from off me and pulled of his hood to reveal a firm and yet handsome face. He looked about 30. Looked sort of a daddy-like person any older woman would want to marry.

But his most striking feature was his shock of red hair. It was a sort of fire coloured. But redder. It was so unreal I almost wanted to ask him whether he was wearing a wig. He extended his hand "Pleased to meet your acquaintance li'l miss. Eduard Cutter, but you can call me Red." I raised an eyebrow and shook his hand cautiously. Instead of letting go, he got down on one knee and kissed my hand. I scoffed. "I'll bet you do this to all the ladies." He stood up and grinned. "Just the ones I like." Cedric shook his head and motioned for me to follow again. _'Ah, what harm could that do? Not like my life is excitingly fantastic anyways.'_ I was SO wrong.


	2. Chapter 2: At The Beginning

_**Chapter 2: At The Beginning…**_

We walked into the shed and walked down a long, LONG spiraling staircase. Slowly, the scenery changed. From old and musty to clean and futuristic. We finally reached a door and well, you know in all those cartoons like Martin Mystery and stuff? Yeah, like that. Minus the aliens. Well, that's what happened. When the door opened we stepped into a clean hall with computers buzzing everywhere and people in black suits running back and forth. Some were carrying big bags and some were carrying stacks of paper.

Suddenly, a door slid open on the other side of the hall. I half expected an alien to pop out and say "Take me to your leader." Instead, something that looked like a pink wad of candy floss flung itself at me. I staggered backwards to find a young girl no older then 10 by the looks of it. She had adorable doe eyes and had bubblegum pink hair. Squeezing the breath out of me, she enthusiastically asked. "Hi! I'm Heather. Are you the new girl? Everyone keeps talking about you. I don't know why. They say that I and my brother and the other kids aren't old enough to know." I smiled at her innocent bubbly voice and awkwardly replied. "Um… it may seem so."

She grinned and ran off only to return with a chocolate bar. Naw, just kidding. It was a boy that looked about her age. _'Hmm… must be the brother.'_ I thought. He gave a bone-crushing hug as well and stepped back. "Hi! I'm Alex. I'm Heathers twin brother. What's YOUR name?" I nodded a greeting. "It's Winterstone. Raven Winterstone." I immediately regretted saying my first name because all of a sudden, all eyes in the room zoned in on me. The two kids whistled and turned to each other. "It's HER!" Cedric came up and cleared his throat. Instantly, everybody got back to work but still shot glances in my direction.

The twins ran to Cedric and he picked them both up and tucked them under his arms, swinging them around as it they were no lighter than a sack of feathers. He put them down after a few spins. "Okay, now you've seen her, why don't one of you go and call Sydney." Both the kids stood straight, saluted and ran back down the hall. He smiled good-naturedly at me. "They're the youngest in the organization. But, the most talented. So far." I raised and eyebrow and was about to start quizzing him when the door slid open once again.

Except this time there was no cute, adorable child rushing up. Instead it was a beautiful woman. About 6 feet tall. She had the whitest hair I'd ever seen on a young person and had dark skin. Sorta, Halle Barry look going on. I could see her silvery grey orbs looking at me up and down as she made her way towards me. I also noticed how everybody moved out of her way. _'This looks like the mafia boss.'_ I thought to myself. Once again I had to keep my emotions in check when I saw what was wrapped around her shoulders.

An eight foot long albino python slithered around her waist and tucked itself neatly over her shoulder. It was positively HUGE and had some markings on its head. I was sincerely freaked out now. Only then, did I notice that most of the bustling people had at least one kind of animal following them around. There were panthers, eagles, lizards, and chameleons. I even caught a glimpse of a zebra coat.

I was about to start hyperventilating right there and then when the lady spoke in a strong tenor sort of strict voice. "So…_this_ is the dragon's child?" _'HULLO! She made me sound like some kind of specimen under a microscope.'_ I saw Eduard/Red slip off the cloak and nod his head in a very mild, carefree manner. The lady smiled and lifted my chin so I looked into her eyes. I glared back defiantly. "Oh, I like this one." She said with a chuckle. "My name is Sydney. Sydney Lindren. Come. I will brief you in the meeting room." She swept out of the hall and I followed her. She reminded me of one of those traditional Dracula people. XD. Cedric, Red and the twins followed close behind.

We entered another room with a long mahogany table. I followed them to the very end where a stoic, firm but amazingly attractive lady sat. Somehow, she looked really familiar. She stood up and reached out a slender hand. "Hello, my little sparrow." I gasped. "Louisa?" Sydney looked a little surprised. "You know each other?" I wanted to roll my eyes. "She used to be my nursemaid until she got fired for some pathetic reason. Burning the soup I think." Louisa snorted. "Your papa was in a downright grumpy mood. But I guessed I deserved it. I didn't prepare his pina colada properly anyways."

Now it was my turn to snort. "Yeah, right. Back to the point. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" I heard Sydney sigh and pull up a chair. She pointed to one opposite her. Everybody else had taken a seat. I sat down heavily and rested my head in my hands, massaging my temples to clear the blundering headache. "I'm sure you've watched many movies and read books about secret organizations and the ability to communicate with animals and special abilities… and more. Some of them have direct connection to ancient history, and some don't even exist. Then there is this one. It is perfectly real, it consists of children and adults with unusual… hobbies." My mouth hung open. "You people are COSPLAYERS?" I heard a snicker.

Sydney folded her legs and rested her arms on the table. "I'm sure you've studied the history or read a science fiction about the Zarikh legend." My head snapped up. This was the subject I was studying at school in my Foreign History course. I cautiously chose my words. "The Zarikh, huge winged beastie. There was no actual evidence or facts about its original shape. Being half human and half beast, the Zarikh could communicate with animals and humans alike. Like any other mythical beast, the Zarikh's ability was enough power to control the world elements. Created to keep the world in balance." Everybody nodded at the steady flow of information. Except the twins who were busy gawking at me. I continued a little more confidently.

"The Zarikh fell in love with a siren, a beautiful creature that sang songs to lure sailors from their ships or make captains direct their ships towards sharp rocks. They were obviously very dangerous creatures. Well, technically, this lady was only a half-siren, Yumael. She still possessed even more beauty then a pure blooded siren. Although relationships between holy creations and evil creatures were forbidden, the Zarikh changed itself into human form to be with Yumael. It started to neglect its tasks to be with her. Resulting in an imbalance of nature's course and a sudden increase in natural disasters. Citizens started complaining – being the whiny boobs they are – blaming the Gods and stuff."

"That's where the trouble starts. The gods were angry and sent Hades, god of the Underworld to 'take care' of Yumael. But Hades saw her and fell in love with the lady himself. So began the full fledged fight for Yumael. The gods took to different methods, and locked the Zarikh's powers deep within its beast form. It could only obtain its powers when it changed into beast form…which, as we all know, was a dragon. But what the gods didn't know was that before its powers were locked away. Yumael was already pregnant. The child who was born looked perfectly normal. The only astonishing features were its beauty and ability to communicate with animals like their father. Other than that everything was okay."

Louisa's mouth hung open as she interrupted me. "Honey child, you just memorized an entire textbook." I looked at her. "Two, actually…textbooks that is. Anyway, so the Zarikh had to keep changing back into beast form to fight for Yumael against Hades' demons, the Thorakh. But, the changing caused the Zarikh to lose control and the gods couldn't do anything about it. Hades was ordered to fall back but it still reined havoc on earth. So leading to imbalances of nature and such. Then Yumael ran towards her lover and wept and as she wept she sang. As she sang the Zarikh regained its control but in the process of Yumael trying to save the Zarikh from itself, she was badly injured. The Zarikh only had enough time after its calm to watch her die. Then the child who was left alone spoke its first words. Actually, it sang the song her mother sang."

"The gods realized that the sirens' singing was the only thing that could calm the Zarikh so they allowed the child to live. But Hades continued his pursuit. Instead of Yumael, he wanted to child now. History says that every 100 years Hades will rise to the Earth to fight with the Zarikh. The only thing that kept the Zarikh under control after the battles was the singing of Yumael's child…who would reincarnate every 100 years." I took a loooooooong breath. "Yep. Sad story. Now what does that have to do with any of this?"

Sydney sighed. "You don't have the whole history, but your knowledge is quite impressive. Raven, do you remember what the child looked like and what her name was?" I rolled my eyes. "Duh! She had long black hair, fair skin, her best friends and protectors were animals and her name was Tharixia-Soreya, which in direct translation means Blue-Eyed Ra-…Oh!." Realization struck. "No. F*BEEBING*. Way." I passed out.

I woke up with five pairs of eyes staring at her. "Where am I?" I asked groggily. Cedric dropped down next to me and handed me a warm towel. "You passed out after the…um… yeah… thingy." I groaned. "Fan-f*beep*ing-tastic." Alex and Heather popped up with their hands over their ears. "Can we stop NOW?" Red raised his eyebrows and chuckled. "Not yet. Whoo-whee. This one's got language." Everyone turned in shock when they heard Sydney give a small laugh. "Oh, I like this one." I stared at her. "This one?" I asked my voice rising slightly. Louisa opened the door. "I'll go get food for everyone. Nobody here has eaten since lunch."

I sat up and handed the towel back to Cedric. "Thanks, Cedric." Now everyone turned to stare at him. "He smiled wolfishly then turned to look at me. "That's just my alias to find you at school. My real name is Fang. I'll keep the surname though. I like it." I raised my eyebrows for the millionth time that day. "You don't have a surname? Then you can have one of mine." Red chuckled. "Show her, Fang." Fang sighed and stood up. Slowly, before my very eyes his shape started to change. His body grew fur, he nose grew longer and his eyes turned black. Then in the blink of an eye, the wolf I saw in the park appeared before me. I stared, dumbstruck. _'I'm a shape shifter. The wolf you saw in the park was one of my buddies.'_ I jumped. Red laughed. "He's using telepathy."

The twins squealed and jumped on top of Fang. He tussled with them a while and then turned back into his original form. I gulped. "Okay, so what can Red do?" Fang smiled. "Your turn." Red bowed low and stood in front of us. He closed his eyes and I saw his arms morph into long, sharp, lethal looking swords. Red grinned. "Hang on. Not those. These are my favourite." He winked at me. The arms morphed again except this time they turned black and formed cannon shaped guns. "They call me Bio-sword." Alex snorted. "Show off." Red morphed his arms back and said, "I'm sorry, your majesty. It's your turn now." Alex grinned and bounced over to my bed and sat opposite Fang.

Fang began to protest. "Why me again?" Alex just stared at him and Fang sighed. After an eerie silence Alex spoke with a slight pompadour. "You will shape shift into a flamingo." And there stood Fang parading around as a flamingo. As soon as Alex started to crack up, Fang immediately changed back, panting. "Not funny, Alex." I nodded lightly. "Cool, mind control." Alex then graciously pulled his sister forward and said, "You should see what Heather can do." I nodded. Heather turned and fixed her gaze on a metal chair next to the bed. Her eyes zoned in on the chair and then she blinked. The chair was smashed into the wall and crumpled in a heap. "Scary." I muttered. She smiled. Red picked up the chair and bended it back into shape.

I groaned. "Super strength too. Oh, sweet tap dancing centaurs." He smiled, clearly amused. Then Alex ran to stand next to his sister. "Watch what we can do together." Once again their eyes focused on the chair. Their eyes glowed purple and amber and suddenly the chair creaked. It crumpled and folded and was squashed into a tight metal ball. Like how you would crush a piece of unwanted paper. I gulped. Red sighed. "Now how am I gonna fix this one?" The twins giggled and said in unison, "Ask Louisa to do it." I looked at Fang, puzzled. "Louisa controls time." My mouth formed an 'O'. Alex grinned. "Heather's called Mindbreaker. I'm Paralyzer. We all get to use code names here. It's awesome." I was scared to ask but you know what they say. 'Curiosity kills the cat, but satisfaction brought him back.' "Sydney?"

She was leaning on the wall but obliged begrudgingly. She held out her hand, and with a shimmer, a long white staff with intricate carvings on it materialized in it. Red slowly explained. "Frostwitch. The staff is to contain her powers. Sydney is a little too strong for her own good. She'll do amazing in open field multiple combat but if she was in a one on one she would lose. So she uses the staff to direct her energy towards the enemy. So, in simpler terms, Sydney sucks at concentrating." Suddenly a block of ice flew towards Red, knocking him in the head. "Next one hits your balls if you don't shut up." Red grimaced but signaled that he was alright. "But her ferocity makes up for it I guess."

I nodded. "Ice. Very cool. Shit. Sorry. Bad pun." Sydney nodded her thanks and the staff disappeared. "Now it's your turn. We're gonna take you to the simulation room. We'll see what you can do from there. I nodded. "But first, change into this." Louisa's voice popped in as she walked through the doors. She tossed a black suit towards me. "Matte black. Your favourite colour." I grinned my appreciation. "You remembered. Good. Or I would have had to fire you." We laughed, sharing the joke with no one else. I stood up. "So am I gonna change or are you guys just gonna stand there?" Nobody moved. "Fine. Have it your way."

I pulled off my school clothes blouse. By then everybody let out a loud gasp. Been there, done _that. _I turned around. "Nice tat." I looked at my shoulders. "Thanks." Alex's eyes were wide open. "Did it hurt?" I tilted my head. "Not that I can remember. I'm not one to break a fingernail and scream." Red had started to shake his head in amazement. Fang was laughing. "Were you really THAT bored?" I nodded. Alex ran up to Sydney and pulled at her arm. "Can I get one? Heather too. PLEASE?" Sydney looked at me aghast. I laughed and dropped my jeans. Fang walked closer. "Would you mind if I asked to see the whole thing?" I laughed. "Pervert." Then I gave him my most seductive look. "Maybe. If you can get me horny enough." He blinked and then smiled his lopsided grin. "Is that a challenge?" I shrugged. I pulled on the suit, zipped it up and turned around. "Ta-dah!" I said as sarcastically as I could manage. Red just looked on, "Honey, you were born for that suit." I smiled.

_**In the simulation room…**_

The simulation room was a huge dome with all natural environments. Yes, each environment had about 50 square miles stretched out. There was a desert, an ocean (who knows how deep it was?), a forest and even a volcano all packed into a huge underground facility. They even got imported sand from the deserts of Egypt. Or so I was told. I just couldn't believe they could fit so much underground. We went into a multi-purpose room with a bit of everything in it.

I flexed my arms and moved my head in a rotating motion a few times. "Okay." I gave them the thumbs up. Red and Sydney had decided to let Fang be my sparring partner. They were in glass dome above the simulation room with the twins. Red spoke into the microphone. "Now remember. I you feel like anything is about to break loose. Just ride with it." I nodded, not quite understanding how that would work out. The twins hit the button. "One, two, THREE!" Numbers flashed above us and then Fang pounced on me. I kicked him in the gut and flung him to the other side of the room.

I crouched low and darted around the room trying to recall the classes I took in Japan. After a bit of running around I was pumped and had recalled all my defense classes. Fang was eying me as I jumped from one end to another. I landed behind him as he whipped around to block my punch. Damn. He was fast. He had my fist in his hands in a tight grip. So I did the most strategic thing I could possibly do. I bit him. I drew blood and he yelp. YES! He let go and I aimed a kick and got him in the mid section. He growled and jumped at me, smashing his fist into my stomach. I relaxed myself just like when I did at classes when my teacher smashed his fists into me over and over again.

I slammed into a wall and my eyes flashed open. I grabbed his wrist and flung him judo style onto the harder patch of ground. The ribbon he had loosely tied his hair with fell off and his hair whipped around his face. I had to admit. He did look very handsome. His eyes grew dark and I recognized the wolf's eyes. But he didn't shift completely. We were about to start another punch fest when all of a sudden the damned pain started again. But really bad this time. I gritted my teeth together and willed it to stop. Then I remembered what Red said so I stayed where I was and let the pain tear my body in two.

Suddenly I felt warm but something was still tearing my back apart. The back of my suit split open and two buds appeared right next to my shoulder blades. They grew and blossomed into enormous wings and they kept on growing, bigger and longer and they shimmered in the light from the solar panels. Bolts of silver streamed through every feather and I found myself panting on the ground with two wings sprouting from my back. They weren't heavy or anything, despite the size, but the sudden sprouting process took the hell outta me. Everyone stared at me. Fang had turned back his eyes to get a better look and I didn't notice it before but now Red, Sydney and the twins were in the simulation room as well.

I took a deep breath and looked at the new addition to my anatomy. Sydney was looking at Fang. "What did you see?" Fang just shook his head. "It was too bright. I COULDN"T see anything. So I changed back. I couldn't even see the growing process." Sydney nodded, impressed. She looked as it these kind of things happened everyday. Maybe they did. For her anyways. "Congratulations, Raven. You're the first person in our organization to get their first gift in less than five minutes of the training simulation. You beat the record of 8 minutes." I looked up. "And whose was that?" Fang looked a bit sheepish. "Mine." I got up and tested my wings. They were oddly light and I hated to sound obnoxious but they were really pretty. "Let's see yours." I said blatantly.

Heathers were a pretty shade of pink and purple that swirled in circular patterns. Alex's were ruby red and glowed like fire. Red went next. His were pretty impressive. They were a dull grey but still caught and held your attention because if you looked really closely, they had black runes and designs around the edges. Sydney's were just amazing. They were white, tinted with a midnight blue at the edge of each feather. It looked as if someone had sprayed it with blue glitter. Finally Fang arched his back and out blossomed two huge black wings. They didn't have any patterns or intricate carving but the colour against his pale skin and black hair made him look like some kind of angel from hell. (No offence)

I reached out my hand but stopped myself. "Can I touch it?" I asked. Just to be polite. Fang just shrugged and leaned himself closer to me. He smelled of peppermint and trees. It was a pleasant scent. I reached out and ran my fingers over the side. It was soft and smooth. "Okay." I said. "Now, I have a problem. How do you put it back in?" Everyone laughed and Sydney explained. "Just concentrate. It won't hurt as much the next time. Don't worry about the suit though. It's made of a special fiber. It'll join back to snugly fit your wings after they sprout." She reminded me of a television advertisement host. I nodded and closed my eyes, waiting for another round of pain. But all I felt was a slight ruffle and I felt heavier. I opened my eyes and checked behind me. Turning myself a full 360 degrees.

I turned and saw that everybody had already tucked in their wings. "So… what's next? Do I sprout flowers outta my arse or something?" Red chuckled. "Sorry, sweetie. We haven't got one of those yet. But we'll keep you posted." Sydney looked at him disapprovingly. "Now that you have your stage one power you are entitled to your guardian." Again I was stumped. Alex grinned. "This is my favourite part. You have to choose one of us to be your chaperone for the next 3 months of training. Then you can choose your guardian. We each have our own see." Heather nodded.

"You have to go to the nest. We'll show you our guardians later. Now pick a helper." I looked around and sucked in a deep breath. "Fang." I looked at him as if it were more a statement than a query. He raised his eyebrows. "Will you do it?" He just grunted, but he looked smug. I looked hesitantly at Sydney. She turned and nodded. Fang gave a sharp whistle, it hung in the air and died slowly. One by one, wisps of smoke surrounded areas next to them and next to Fang appeared a big shaggy gray-brown wolf. Alex was stroking a huge purring tiger. It was slightly bigger than an ordinary tiger and its fur was red.

Heather had a phoenix sitting on her arm. It chattered in little birdsong and made a little rumbling noise in its throat. On Sydney's shoulders was the big python I saw her carrying before. A squawk and a flutter of wings came from the big falcon perching on Red's outstretched arm. He fondly smiled and stroked it. Then Sydney spoke. "The twins are experts on guardians so all your questions should be directed at them." I just nodded and looked on at the creatures. Believe me I was still in massive shock. I'm still grateful God let me keep my jaw.

The twins nodded and grinned at each other. They grabbed my hands and motioned towards Fang. I was dragged…and pulled along a tunnel that led to another room. It was stacked with shelves. On every shelf there was a small nest and in every nest there was an egg. They were different sizes and colours. Sorta like an Easter egg showroom. No wonder why the twins liked their job. All the eggs were colourful and interesting to look at. It was almost weird to know that all the animals I had seen roaming the place came from these. As I walked in I could feel the life and warmth radiating from every egg. Heather and Alex slowly explained the process. I'll bet they were picking their lines from the Eragon movie.

But, they were the experts. So technically, the guardian chose the owner. All I had to do was walk as close as I possibly could to all the eggs as I traveled through the room. If any of the eggs moved or started to crack, then I was to stop and wait for it to hatch. So, I was led through the winding passage and passed each egg. After an hour or so, still no squeaks, cracks or movement. Finally we reached the end of the passage. There was a small platform there; on it was a nest, like all the others. But the egg in it was way bigger than the others. And to top it all off, it was really breathtaking. It looked like it was made of diamond and if you looked really closely you could almost see what was in it. But when it caught the light, it was a black and white egg that had swirling masses of silver around it.

Again, the twins exchanged looks and nodded. They pulled me closer to the egg. "This one may need more contact. Just in case." Heather smiled at me reassuringly. I slowly placed my palm on top of the egg. We waited for what seemed like a millennium and nothing happened. I didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. Obviously this egg was special. Yet, it seemed dangerous. It hadn't chosen me, but still I felt a jolt of electricity zap through my body.


	3. Chapter 3: My Guardian Dragon ?

_**Chapter 3: My Guardian Dragon (?)…**_

As we turned to make a second pass through the room, suddenly we heard a weak creaking sound. None of us moved and when there was not another sound to be heard, we slowly turned around to find a thin crack in the centre of the egg. Suddenly I fell to the ground in pain. There it was again, ripping through my body. The crack got bigger and suddenly I was surrounded in light.

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_My eyes blinked open; I looked around at my surroundings. It was all white. I heard a faint 'grawk' sound and I looked down at my feet. There sitting clumsily and wiping the tendrils of membrane off itself was a reptilian-like creature. But it looked cuter, smaller and more docile. I bent down to touch it. Suddenly a beautiful lady with magnificent wings stood next to me. She didn't have a shining halo around her head but I could tell she was just someone you don't mess with. Ever. She picked up the tiny thing before me and gently stroked its head._

_Then, she looked at me and said, "You must be Raven. (Ah, the voice of angels) This is your guardian. His name is Drackoreth. Call him Draco. I believe you humans are fond of syncopated references. (Wow! Talk about a vocab lesson) Look after him well. Both of you have a long journey ahead of you."_ Then she disappeared and I was back on the floor of the nest room. I looked down and saw Draco. Then, I tilted my head up and saw three amazed faces staring at the strange creature sitting on my feet. It was still making funny grawking noises and looking at me expectantly.

Hesitantly I reached out to touch it. It withdrew, sniffed at my fingers, opened its mouth to snap at them, then reconsidered and nuzzled its head against my hand. I smiled and picked it up gently. I admired its fine membrane-like wings. It was a black with white and silver curling patterns on its scales – almost identical to the ones on the egg it had just hatched from. I stroked it down its spine and it made a happy gurgling noise. It was so…well…cute. I heard a shriek and we all turned to see a young woman in a nurse's uniform coming in with a tray. She almost turned and ran when Alex's eyes glowed red and the lady stopped short a few inches away from the door and collapsed.

I sucked in a breath. They were just kids, but they were dangerous. Heather smiled at me and said. "I'll take care of that. For now…" She walked up to the tray explaining on the way. "There are weight sensors at the bottom of every nest. If the weight suddenly decreases, then they know that there has been a hatch or a theft. They come down here to investigate, bringing with them a vaccine for the new hatchling. We would have let the lady run and spread the word if you had hatched anything but _that_ egg. The rest of the organization isn't ready for this. So, I'm sorry you had to see that."

I took in a deep breath and suddenly I heard another 'grawk'. I quickly loosened my tightening grip on the…thing I was holding. Heather was preparing the vaccine so Alex explained. "What you have just hatched. Is a baby dragon. No surprises since you ARE the 'dragon child' but we weren't expecting it to all happen so quickly." He bent down to pick up the restless creature. "When it hatched, you must have been given a sign, right. That will determine your guardian's name. If you change it, or name it something else, you would, apparently, anger the gods. Unless you're seriously atheist and don't believe in higher power mumbo-jumbo as Red would say." He passed the dragon to Heather. "That usually means getting randomly hit by lightning or being cursed. It happened before." Fang let out a small bark of laughter and quickly turned it into a hacking cough. The twins looked a bit displeased. Better not pry anymore then I should.

Then, he turned to me and grinned. "You had a pretty nasty fall though. So, what's its name?" I slowly got up with the help of Fang. "The lady said he was Drackoreth… Draco… I think that means dragon in Greek." Heather had finished jabbing and put the dragon on the floor. She giggled as it flapped its newly found wings and blinked its big blue eyes at us. "It's SO ADORABLE!" She petted it and then turned to the fallen nurse lady. She nodded at Alex. Their eyes glowed again and then the lady woke up. Without looking at us, she took the tray and slowly proceeded out the door saying "False alarm. Nothing to worry about." Fang sighed. "You kids are scary."

They turned to grin at us. The dragon had found its way into my lap and was experimentally nibbling at my finger. "Hey. Stop that." I hastily withdrew my finger. It looked rather dejected so I picked it up and cuddled it for a while. "I think it's hungry." Fang said with a laugh. Then we heard a growl. The twins smiled sheepishly. "I think we are too." Fang and I laughed again. He smiled at me and then grabbed the twins. My heart skipped a beat "Well, let's take the tunnel then."

We rounded a couple of turns and climbed up a long spiral staircase. We reached the conference room. Red, Sydney and Louisa were there. I was carrying the gurgling little creature when they spotted us. The stood up and were about to mouth a greeting when they spotted Draco. They stood there with their mouths open…except Sydney (DUH) who smiled smugly and mouthed to Red 'I told you so.' I smiled and put the dragon on the table.

"It's a boy. Draco." Heather and Alex slowly told them what had happened while Fang and I tussled with the creature. Louisa had set some food on the table. Her eyes never left Draco. I wasn't hungry so I let him have my food. BOY, could that little guy EAT! He just devoured it and looked up at Louisa, expecting more. Louisa took an instant liking to him and his big, blue eyes. "Well, I'll be. This thing can eat more than a horse in a field full of oats. I'll go get the little critter something else to chow."

Sydney thanked the twins and turned to Draco. He looked at her and blinked. Red grinned at him and said "He's almost as cute as his owner. He's processing the new faces." He reached out to pet him. Draco shied away and weakly flapped into my arms. I lifted him up and stroked him lightly. "Well, he's taken an instant liking to ya." Alex smiled. "He thinks you're his mommy. Heh heh." I smiled despite myself then gasped. "What am I going to DO with him?" Sydney raised an eyebrow. Of course they hadn't figured that I wouldn't want to _keep_ him with me in my home. "We'll keep him here for further tests. It's very rare that we get a dragon guardian."

She nodded at Draco who was already starting on the new plate of food Louisa brought in. "In the mean time, you will continue to go to school with your helper, Fang. Don't worry about it. You can visit him everyday after school. All guardians can take up a human form two months after hatching. After he passes that stage, you and…Draco will take training with us after school." I just nodded. Red bent down and flicked a piece of meat off his plate. It skidded on the table and Draco dashed after it. He almost slipped, regained his balance and pounced on the meat. He gobbled it up and turned around.

He faced us with a satisfied look on his face. I felt like a proud mother looking at her kid. There was silence when all of a sudden, Draco released an enormous burp. The twins broke down into fits of giggles while the rest of us just smiled. This time, Draco let Red pet him. "Welcome to the gang little buddy."

_**The next day…**_

It was kinda heartbreaking to leave Draco there. But then again, they were the experts. Somehow I had developed some kind of bond with him. Not the Eragon kind of bond where I half-die of pain and wake up with a Harry Potter scar, but a more family kind of bond. I woke up and set about my normal routine, which involved practicing the piano for a couple of hours. Suddenly, one of my personal maids, Rosa, scampered in looking rather excited. "Sorry, to disturb you, ma'am. But, there is a boy outside. He's looking for you." She shyly smiled when I nodded and headed for the door. Out there was Fang, Cedric now, because we were in public. He was all in black. The only colour was the white slash across his jeans. I could see all his muscles ripple as he walked up the steps to greet me. The sleeveless shirt he was wearing really complimented him, though I hated to think it, he looked good.

"Hey, just got up?" He smiled his lopsided, wolfish grin. I curtly nodded back. "Come on in. I got up a couple of hours ago. If you wanted to go to school with me, then you came a little early." He just kept grinning. School had already started a couple of minutes ago. Obviously he had figured out my 'famous-for-being-late status. Somehow I never got scolded. *secret smile* "Just checking up on you. I am your… chaperone-thingy-person." I could feel the side of my mouth twitch at his awkward fumble. We walked through the halls and reached the dining room. They had served breakfast. I invited him to eat but he just shook his head, "I already ate back at…home."

I nodded and sipped my coffee, deciding to ignore the pause between words. As I ate my pancakes, he rested his chin in his palm and watched me. I could feel the questioning glances the servants flashed at each other. I sighed. "What?" He shook his head again. "Nothing." I frowned. "Then stop looking at me like that." His mouth twitched into a smile as he intensified his gaze. "Like what?" I groaned and decided to ignore him. After breakfast the servants cleared the plates. "I'm going to get changed. Stay." I said. He gave me an exasperated look. _'Do I LOOK like your pet dog?' _His expression read. He stood up. "Nope."

Once again I was annoyed at his stubbornness. He followed me to my room and sat on my bed, checking out the surroundings. I scowled when he sat on my bed. He picked up one of my satin pillows and sniffed at it. In my head, I could really see the resemblance between him and a wolf. He turned to me. "Your room smells nice." He walked up to me and I froze when he picked up a lock of my hair and took a deep breath as he held it up to his face. "Smells like you. You smell nice too." Then he dropped my hair and flounced to my wardrobe.

"Can I pick out your clothes?" I was shocked. "What are you? GAY?" But he was so boyish and innocent looking so I just harrumphed and nodded. "Yay!" Then with that, he riffed through my closet. All I heard were different exclamations of surprise:

"Oh, FISHNET!"

"All you have is black. No other colour?"

"Nope."

"LIES! You have red and white."

In the end, he dumped a red tube, a fishnet shirt and a pair of black jeans with red flowers on the side on the bed. Then he put it together and smiled at his handiwork. Then he turned and winked. "Go ahead. I promise I won't peek." I raised an eyebrow. "Suuurrrreee." All sarcasm intended. But I was amused at his sincerity. Maybe he really was trying to be friends. I complied and changed into the clothes. Once he saw the finished result, he grinned. "Now we match!" I deigned to smile at his childish statement. "You do know that I'm not _supposed_ to wear a tube in this fishnet right?" His eyes opened wide as the sputtered something that _sounded_ like a swear word. _"WHAAAAA?"_ I smiled. "Psyche."

He was a five year old stuck in the body of a seventeen year old. A VERY good looking seventeen year old. We decided to walk to school so on the way he could elaborate on the tests they would be running on Draco and explain more about the organization. So technically what I found out was that the legend was only half true. The only thing I could be sure of in my spinning head was that the Thorakh actually existed. Fang sighed. "WE exist mostly to kill them. They're everywhere. They take a human form during the day. Yes, anybody you know could be a Thorakh." I nodded weakly. "Is that what all the training is for?" He nodded grimly. "But you're purpose is slightly different. Since you're training is still incomplete… actually not even begun, you're not entitled to know the details of it. *insert evil grin here*" I punched his arm but he just laughed.

"What about parents. If it isn't genetic, then how do you explain?" His face turned dark. "The organization tells them. If they refuse to give the child up, they kidnap the child under Law 122.80." I nodded. I had taken a law course in 4th grade. He continued. "Others try to publicize it. We use Heather's powers for that. A number of people in the organization can control minds so it's easier. Then there are the ones where they give up the child willingly. Because he's a freak of nature. A _mutated, deformed, inhumane_ THING. Some people even ASK for a mind wipe. I guess they never wanted him in the first place."

His voice was so bitter. I was a little scared to ask but I did anyway. "Was that what happened to you?" He stopped walking and suddenly rushed into a dark alley. I yelled his name and then followed him. Damn he was fast. But I did manage to eventually catch up with him. He was leaning on an abandoned factory wall with tears running down his face. He sat down and put his head into his hands. It dawned on me that he didn't want anybody to see him cry. "You okay?" I mentally kicked myself for asking such a stupid question. I sat next to him. Suddenly I felt a wave of pity and awkwardly wrapped my arms around his muscular frame.

He didn't resist. He just rested his head on my lap and cried. Then slowly he morphed into wolf form. My guess was he was wrapping himself in his own little world. But he was easier to hug in that form. And it wasn't as awkward as I stroked his soft fur and lay my head on his. I felt helpless because I had never seen a person cry but I felt his pain. So there we were comforting each other. I couldn't do anything but slowly hum a lullaby my mother had taught me before she started leaving too. After a while, he was back to his normal self but was we were a little awkward after what happened. Then I stood up and smiled at him. "We don't have to go to school today. Come on. I'll take you somewhere." He nodded, grinned and we walked to the park. I was right. There was a funfair going on and turns out that a lot of people had skipped school just to go. It must have been a one day thing. The funny thing was that Fang had NEVER been to a funfair. He just stared at everything in awe. I smiled inwardly at his confusion. Guess he didn't get out much.

We walked around and stopped by at stalls, buying stuff, playing games, going for weird rides I would never have gone on. Surprisingly, I had fun. It was the first time I had actually laughed so much in years. He tried to jump off the Ferris wheel when it started moving, didn't know how to eat candy floss, and all throughout the day he told me about the organization. I learned a lot. Then after that we went to the same park and made our way into the HQ again. I was still amazed at all the technology and vowed to master everything as fast as possible so I could see what was really going on.


	4. Chapter 4: I'm Learning Fast

_**Chapter 4: I'm Learning Fast…**_

I got adjusted with my new schedule quickly. The servants were a little worried when I started coming home late but got used to it when I told the head butler that I had taken up some extra curriculum activities. (Yeah, right. Like I would WANT to stay at school any longer than I already did.) On Mondays and Tuesdays I had combat and defense training with Red and Sydney. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, I would learn technology and power control with the twins. I had to admit, it was kinda weird being taught by a couple of kids but they made it absolutely painless for me. On Fridays and Saturdays, I trained with Draco and Fang. Those days were my favorites. Not because of Fang, of course not. What gave you that idea? (Ahem)

Sundays, this was today. I had the day off to do any left over work which I had already finished by the way. But I guess they had underestimated me. I never wanted that day off so I normally learned bits and pieces from Fang who would constantly visit me. Sometimes he would bring Draco, usually it was just him. I had gotten used to his daily flow of information. It somehow helped me get through the classes a little easier. So here I was, sitting up right in my silky nightgown, glaring at Fang who had just popped his head in. I threw a pillow at his head. "Knock will ya! Sheesh." He grinned, obviously amused at my displeasure.

"Bastard." I muttered under my breath. I was feeling particularly tired so I just lay back and pulled the blankets around my chin. Normally I wouldn't do this, but I just felt a little sleepy, and sweaty, and cold, and faint…what the heck? I couldn't move and had started shivering like crazy. Fang noticed and came closer to inspect me. "Rae?" His eyebrows were knitted together. I smiled weakly. "I just need to sleep." He looked worried. He pressed his hand to her forehead. "Doesn't feel good. I'll get you some medicine." He brushed my hair back from my clammy skin and tucked it behind her ear. "Hang in there okay?" I just nodded.

He ran out and returned with a tray. On it was (Thank god) a pitcher of water, a packet of medicine and on the side was a glass of orange juice with a note stuck on it. "Rosa tells you to drink the orange juice first. I told them not to disturb you." I managed to muster a smile and tried to raise myself. Immediately he was beside me and propping me up on the pillows. He raised the glass to my lips and I drank thirstily. While I drank and gulped down the medicine, (I will call him Cedric now, its fun to switch names. =]) Cedric just stroked my hair and disentangled all the knots with his slim fingers. It felt comforting. He then let me lie back down. He arranged the pillows as I rested my head in his arms. I felt so helpless. But in the end I managed to drift off to sleep.

_**7 hours later…**_

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that my head was resting against something hard. Hard something happened to be a chest. Said chest was flat and muscular, so that throws Rosa out of the list. Wait a minute…I bolted upright only to find a huge bar/arm restricting my movements. What the heck had happened? Why. Am. I. In. This. Position? I closed my eyes and recollected my thoughts.

_(Flashback)_

_I heard him sigh and saw his worried features through my half lidded eyes. He got up and came over to me. He picked me up and moved me aside and lay next to me. He put his arm around me and tucked my face into his chest. I remember feeling very comfortable and…falling…asleep._

_(End of Flashback)_

Cedric sighed again and pulled me closer. I stiffened. Oh, goodness. This could not be happening. I tried to release his iron grip, sheesh, what were these people feeding him. Suddenly his eyes fluttered open. He smiled and sat up. He didn't seem the least bit embarrassed. "Are you feeling better now?" I tried to stop the blush but it didn't work as well as I wanted it to. I just nodded. He reached for me and hugged my close. My breath hitched in my throat. "Thank, God." He murmured in my ear. I pushed him back, a little flustered and stood up. It must have been a bit too sudden because suddenly the room swam and I closed my eyes and crouched down to regain my balance.

He came up next to me and handed me a glass of water. "Thanks." I drank and turned to him. "Were you here the whole time?" He took the glass and set it back on the tray. "Yeah. You had a pretty nasty jolt fever." I raised my eyebrows. He was about to start explaining when I raised my hand and put my finger on his lips. I meant it as a friendly gesture but it ended up really awkward. I cleared my throat. "I'm really hungry now. Tell me during lunch. You are staying for lunch right?" He shrugged. "If I must."

I got changed and we went downstairs for lunch. Then it hit me. "You stayed with me past breakfast?" He shrugged again. I sighed. "I'm sorry." He shook his head. "Don't apologize." The servants quickly set the table and we ate. Halfway through lunch, Rosa entered and placed a thin envelope on the table. "From your parents. For the missus." I nodded and broke the wax seal on the envelope. It slid open and I pulled out a letter and another smaller envelope. Cedric polished the last bits of his meal and looked at me. "From your people?" I just nodded and opened up the letter.

_Raven,_

_Hello, sweetheart. We sent over a credit card just in case. You never wrote to us so we thought you had probably maxed out. Your mother and I will be staying for a few more months so we thought we would say hi. We hope you're doing well. Please write to us soon._

_Your loving parents._

I sighed. "It's rude to read other peoples letters without their permission you know." Cedric grinned. "I never knew you go shopping." I rolled my eyes. "I don't. This is my 8th credit card. But I haven't even maxed out my 5th one yet." He laughed. "They worry about you." I snorted. "Yeah, right. So, you were saying." He cleared his throat. "Ah, yes. What you just experienced was a jolt fever. It's something we get when we get out 1st basic ability. You got yours extremely early." I smiled.

"In less than a week, you already got your 2nd jolt. The first was your shoulder pains. The second was the fever. The third will be random body aches. Then your other abilities come naturally without pain." My mouth formed an 'O' and I nodded. "So what's my second ability?" He checked his watch. "Let's go find out."

_**Back at HQ…**_

I stepped into the simulation room and looked up at Red and Sydney. The twins had school, so Fang was my partner again. We squared off and I stared at him. He stared right back. I wanted him to attack first. I already had the entire visualization in my head. He obliged and lunged at me. I crouched and instead of dodging, I ran right back and elbowed him in the ribs. I slipped my arm around his arm and flipped him over. He landed with a thump on his back. He kicked out hard and I landed on my butt.

His eyes darkened and he slowly started to morph. I had faced his morphed frame before. The trick was to do as much damage before and during the morph. As soon as I saw the fur appearing, I lunged and caught him in the ribs. He dropped down coughing and I added a chop for show across the back. Suddenly he buzzed and jolts of lighting flashed around him and his wings burst out. I understood that my budding process could blind people who were using sight magic so I stayed on the ground, waiting. He was still underestimating me and darted at me. I saw his eyes darken. No morphing took place but I stayed on the ground for a good measure before crouching low and releasing my wings.

The gust of wind and the burst of light did its job and he shielded his eyes. I took that opportunity to collect my thoughts. I still had to find out what my new power was. I closed my eyes and felt something stir inside me. I don't know what made me do it but I opened my eyes and raised my tingling hands. I heard a crack sound and I turned around. Nothing was happening but I could sense something. I collected the energy and raised my palms facing upwards. It almost felt like instinct as I released the breath and my palms glowed. Suddenly, the water from the manmade waterfall burst and a stream of water darted towards Cedric. It hit him squarely in the chest and he fell.

I tried to control my excitement and tried to catch Cedric. I pictured the water morphing and flattening and slowly brought it underneath Cedric. He fell on the watery-like surface had created and I slowly rested him on the ground. Gee, this was easy. Suddenly I felt really tired and my palms stopped glowing. The water no longer defied gravity and splashed all over the place. I stood up soaking wet with the help of Cedric. He smiled, impressed, at what I had just done. The doors at the side of the room slid open and two very awed characters walked in. One was Red, who was very bad at hiding his emotions. His jaw hung open and his eyes were twinkling.

Sydney however portrayed the ever peaceful ethereal goddess and showed no signs whatsoever. But I had mastered the body signs and her signals were coming fast. I grinned despite myself. I felt really stupid and knew it was a bad idea but I said it anyway. "Wow. I'm awesome." Everyone laughed. I turned to face Sydney. "So is this just with water or can I try something else?" She checked her watch. "There is another team coming in for practice in about 10 minutes so do what you want until then." I thanked her and motioned to Cedric.

They left the room to find the twins so Cedric and I just practiced a few combat moves. Then when I felt the familiar adrenaline rush I tried again, this time, focusing myself on the hot lava flowing from the mini volcano. This time my hands glowed red and the volcano erupted. The same stream of water, except this time lava shot out and zipped all around the room and I realized I had forgotten to aim it at something. I tried aiming it at the small mountains in the corner and I succeeded in blasting an average sized hole in it. I turned to grin at Cedric and he gave me the thumbs up.

Next we tried it with soil and it got the same results. But it wasn't as flexible. The hardest one was air because you couldn't really control it and I was almost exhausted. Unfortunately, Cedric noticed. "Okay, that's it for now. Take a break. We'll try again when the twins return from lessons." I groaned and gave him a pleading look. "Come on, Cedric. Just a little bit more. I can do it." He glared at me. "Rae, you are exhausted and might as well just commit suicide then continue your training." I glared right back, turned around and just focused all my energy on the blasted unseen form of air. Then, everything went black.

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"_Raven? Raven? Wake up, sweetheart" I groggily opened my eyes and saw the same lady. "What's going on?" She smiled. "I apologize for the incognito intrusion of your privacy. My name is Yumael." I sat up quick. "Yumael? Okay…where are we?" She laughed a sweet bell-like laugh. "We are in between worlds. That is the best, and the only explanation I can possibly give. But you're a smart girl. Figure it out." Then she stepped closer to me and kneeled. "You look just like Soreya." She rested her hand on my cheek. "You have been given a task. You have to fulfill it somehow. I will visit you every night in your dreams."_

"_I will train you there." I groaned. "As if I don't have enough already." She smiled, amused. "What I will teach you will be far more valuable then your basics in the so called organization. I will see you tonight. But for now, dear heart, you must…"_

"WAKE UP! OI! She's not listening to me." "She's breathing at least." "Try one more time." I felt someone grasp my shoulders and I quickly responded. "Shake me or scream in my ear one more time and I will castrate your sorry excuse for manhood." I heard a snort, a gasp and a sigh of relief. "She's okay." I opened my eyes. "Sheesh. How many times do I have to undergo serious pain or sudden faints before you guys get used to it?" Red was chuckling but Sydney was not amused. The twins were holding a glass of water and a damp towel while Fang just looked at me, obviously offended. "Well sorry for trying to help." I growled at him and bonked myself back down on the bed.

"What was it this time? Did you get some kind of weird premonition?" Red came up to the bed to check my forehead. I waved it off. "I'm fine. I, um… saw…okay… you are not gonna believe this but I saw-." "Yumael." I sat up sharpish to stare at Sydney. The twins sighed. "We forgot to tell you. Sydney reads minds." I groaned. "Great…" I took the cup of water and handed the half full cup to Fang. "Peace offering?" He gave me a sarcastic look and accepted the water grudgingly. He took a swig. I smiled apologetically at him.

He glared at me. "What? I was thirsty." I shrugged and turned to Sydney. "Yeah. It was her." She raised her eyebrow. "What did she say?" I shrugged a second time. "Something about training me." I heard Red suck in a breath. "That was fast. She usually waits for a couple of months before training but you have already gotten TWO visits from her. She must have high expectations for you." I saw the twins cast worried looks at Sydney but it was very brief. Sydney just turned on her heel and walked out the door. I turned to them. "What's her problem?"

At that moment, everybody decided that they had to do something. All except Fang. The twins noticed, rolled their eyes at each other and grinned mischievously. When it was just the both of us, Fang sat down next to me on the bed. I made room for him. "Before this, we had a different system for choosing the 'Dragon Child'. We would round up the best in the organization that matched the profile of Soreya. Sydney was one of them." I gasped. "But the-." Fang interrupted. "Her hair changed colour when she got her definition power, which is the 7th ability that will define all your other powers. Mine was shape-shifting. The twins can, as you saw before, control things with their minds, and Red's fully morphed form can crush or cut through anything."

I nodded. "Back to the story. Everybody thought that Sydney would be the One. She matched the profile perfectly and was the youngest and the best in the group of selected girls. She was also the one with the most pride. She also thought that she was the One. She trained hard and even deigned to brag once or twice. Finally, it came for the hatching. The egg turned down everybody's aura politely except Sydney's. Everybody watched her as she placed her hand on the egg. Instead of declining with a gentle blue glow, it turned red and started shaking violently. Sydney was hurt and rejected. Everybody was gossiping about her after that."

"Instead of allowing her to continue normal organization duties, she was assigned to train the next 'Dragon Children'. She was cold and bore grudges against this system and the history of this organization. It always reminded her of that incident. It scarred her quite badly." He dropped his head as he spoke. "But she's not all that bad. She's a beautiful lady. Confident and strong. She's a downright alpha-female. Red's even trying to court her right now." He raised his head and turned to smile at me. I snorted. "I wish him loads of luck. He'll need it." Fang nodded his agreement. "She may be a little bitter but I can tell. She's really proud of you." I smiled and to my embarrassment, I blushed.

WHAT? RAVEN does NOT _BLUSH!_ Stop blushing. Calm yourself. I took a deep breath. "You okay?" I turned and nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay." We got up and headed for the conference room for lunch. We were just about to chow down when I suddenly realized. "Oh, SHOOT!" Everybody looked up. Fang sighed. "Now what?" I glared at him. "I didn't get to try with air." Red let out a deep rumbling laugh. "You can always try again later. One step at a time, honey." I smiled at him and childishly decided to stick my tongue out at Fang. He raised an eyebrow. "In my wolf clan, sticking your tongue out directly at someone is a marriage proposal. In whi-." I frowned. "Dream on, fluffy." I knew he hated being called that. I was right.

He harrumphed and grumpily ate. I caught a glimpse of Sydney smiling. But as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared. I shrugged and ate, mumbling "I'm still gonna try later." Fang growled at me. "Be my guest." I gave him the brattiest look I could muster and quickly finished the rest of my food. "I'm done. I'm going now." I turned to the door that everybody normally went through. "STOP!" everybody had shouted in unison. I turned. "Now what?" Red cleared his throat. "Ahem…well. You should be taking the tunnel." I cocked an eyebrow. "How come I'm the only one who can't pass through the normal way?"

He sighed. "Well, it's kinda big news finding the 'Dragon child' so the organization isn't informed until you are properly trained up. We made the fatal mistake of introducing the others to soon and they almost crumpled under the assessment and pressure. My mouth formed an 'O'. "But I'm not one to crack under pressure. I'm sure I could handl-." 'BANG!' We turned. Sydney had got up, knocking her chair to the ground. "Sydney. Calm down." Red tried to reach for her but she shook him off and came up to me. She was only a few inches taller than me but none of that mattered because she suddenly started yelling at me. "DO YOU THINK YOU'RE READY? GOD KNOWS HOW MANY TIMES I'VE HEARD THAT BEFORE THEY RETURNED LIKE CRUSHED ANTS. YOU ALL THINK YOU'RE THE BEST BECAUSE YOU WERE SELECTED. DON'T YOU EVEN THINK FOR ONCE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE INSTEAD OF YOURSELF?"

I was shocked but I didn't show it. Instead, I stared back at her defiantly meeting her gaze. "If I can do it, so what? Do you think I chose this? You and I both know very well what I'm currently going through. You can read minds remember? I want to get this over with as quickly as possible so I could just get on with my LIFE! JUST BECAUSE YOU'VE HAD A CRAPPY ONE DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO'S ALLOWED TO RANT!" She was taken aback and took a step backwards. I continued to look at her and grasped her shoulders. "You don't know me. I don't know you and I certainly don't want to. But just remember that you're not the only one with bad experiences. You can take a good look in my mind and find out all you want but don't even think about saying anything about my life since you've already prejudiced against it."

Fang got up and pulled me away. I shook him off as well and stomped down the passage to the simulation room.

"Sydney. You shouldn't have done that. Releasing all your 1260 years of pent up frustration on her all in one go is just unfair." Red was frowning. Sydney glared at him. "You heard her. I can handle it my foot. She's just like all the others. And who are you to tell me what's fair and what isn't." The twins sighed in unison. Sydney sat down heavily in a chair. "I did get a good look into her history though." She grimaced. "That bad?" Fang asked sitting back down. She nodded. Suddenly everybody was seeing the same mental images.

_(Flashback)_

_"Mommy where are you going?" Raven asked, looking up at her mother clad in a black dress. "Mommy and daddy are going out to eat with a very important client." Lydia responded to the little one standing in the doorway. Raven smiled and walked up to her mother and looked up at her. "Can I go?" She asked. Lydia squatted down to Raven's height and looked at her face. "No you're staying home this time." She said, feeling guilty from the look on Raven's face. "Please?" She asked. Lydia shook her head and removed the hair from Raven's little face. She sighed and looked through the doorway at her husband_

_"We're going to be late, darling." Richard said. Lydia nodded and kissed Raven's forehead. Richard ruffled Raven's hair and the two adults walked out of the room and headed down the stairs, with Raven followed them. "Now Ryan. Don't let Raven watch any scary movies, don't give her sugar before she goes to bed, oh and make sure she doesn't eat a lot before she goes to bed as well." Lydia said. A tall young man stood at the doorway. "Alright. Go on." Lydia smiled. "Bye sweetie." She got up and walked out the door with Richard behind her. Raven ran to the window and watched them get into the car and drive away._

_She looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Raven walked away from the window and sat down on the couch. She grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. Ryan sat down beside him and placed his arm above the couch. Raven scooted away only to have Ryan grab her tiny wrist and pull her towards him._

_"What are you-."_

_Ryan silenced the small girl with his hand over her mouth._

_"You keep quiet." Ryan demanded._

_"M-MOMMY!" Raven shouted after she bit Ryan's finger. He let go of Raven and started to chase her. "MOMMY! DADDY!" Raven shouted. She ran around the giant mansion, only to have Ryan chase close behind her. He grabbed her collar and tossed the young Raven towards the wall, knocking the air out of her. Raven woke up to find herself duct taped to the bed; her wrists and legs and mouth. She noticed the door opening and in came Ryan. She screamed behind the tape, as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and spilled out, staining her cheeks._

_Ryan smirked, walked to the bed, and sat down beside her. He passed his large hand over Raven's tiny frame and stopped at the hem of her skirt. She tried kicking her feet, but failed. Ryan slowly tugged the front of Raven's skirt and snaked his hand inside._

_She screamed and thrashed around, more tears came to her eyes. She screamed and screamed and kicked her feet wildly. Ryan slapped her hard on the cheek, knocking her out. The picture became blurry and the only thing audible was the sound of the room door opening._

_"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"_

_(End of Flashback)_

Red was biting his lip; the twins had been blocked for adult viewing only. Sydney looked quite nauseous. Fang however was gripping the table tightly and when his head cleared, there were clear nail marks on the table. "Well that wasn't pretty." Sydney and Fang turned to glare at Red. "What?" Fang shook his head. "Anything else?" Sydney shook her head. "That's all I got. Brief contact." Fang nodded. "I'm gonna kill the bastard." Sydney stood up and before she left she softly murmured. "She already did."

_**In the simulation room…**_

I gritted my teeth and tried once more. I almost had it when suddenly I heard the doors slide open. I turned around and saw Fang watching me solemnly. I stretched and turned so my back was facing him. But, I loudly called out for his benefit. "Don't worry. My dad managed to stop him. I'm still a virgin." I could hear a sharp intake of breath. I smirked. "Had a nice cinema viewing in there?" Fang was confused. I could tell. "How did you know that?" I sighed. Looks like I had to give the big secret away. "That wasn't the first time I've had a fever like that." Again another sharp intake of breath. "Lemme guess. You can see through walls?" I nodded. "Somewhere along those lines." Fang came down and sat next to me.

"Meaning?" I turned around to face him. "I don't know how to explain it." Fang took a deep breath. "Cool. X-ray vision." I looked at him and said. "If you want to say something, just say it." He stared at me and asked. "After the viewing, I told Sydney I was gonna kill the whatisname. But before she left she said something like you already did. What was that all abou-." Before he could finish the sentence, I started laughing. I don't know why but I just did. I saw him shudder and stopped abruptly. "When my parents started leaving, I joined a class without their knowing. I joined a lot of classes actually. Martial arts, assassination techniques and the like. But, I just couldn't get that incident out of my head. I was 10 at that time. I dressed up and went out for a walk. I had planned everything well. His address was planted in my head. The bedroom position, who was in the house, how many, what time. It was all there."

I sighed. "I climbed in through the window. He was in the shower. So I just sat on the bed. I wanted him to feel what I did. So I entered the bathroom and knocked him out. I tied him to the bed like he did with me. I didn't want him to die that quickly. So I cut his belly. I wore his socks, clothes and gloves so there were no traces of anything. The police came to my house a few days later. I told them what he did to me. I didn't confess or anything. In the records, I was just another victim." I looked at Fang. His eyes were tightly shut as if trying to process what I said. Then he opened them and looked at me again. His eyes were sad. I leaned back and lied down on the grass. "But it was okay. I didn't feel guilty. How could I? Anyway. Subject change. Are you a virgin?"

He coughed and looked at me in a really awkward way. "Um…not really. No." I got up suddenly. "REALLY? WHO?" Fang laughed sheepishly. "Some girl in high school. But the relationship didn't work out. So we just ended it. There was one in HQ as well." I whistled. "Wow. So this HQ really is a lot like school. Yuck!" He laughed again. But more comfortably this time. I lied down on my stomach with my head resting on my hands. "So how many relationships have you been in before?" He thought for a while. "So far two. =]. You?" I also pretended to think. "Five." He looked taken aback. "With the way you treat every guy in school. Tell me why I find that so hard to believe."

I laughed. "I used to be different. I only prioritized on the rich, famous and the ones who would do anything for me. It was good. All the gifts and popularity. Very soon I got bored when they started getting hormone filled. A lot of try out groping. Some easily avoided date x rape cases…Hm… other then that. Yep. It was all good." I saw him flinch a little. I laughed it off. "Don't be so sensitive. Sheesh. I've almost lost count of all your 'sharp intakes of breath' and 'flinches'." Another flinch. I got up. "Well, looks like we aren't going anywhere today. I'll just say goodbye to Draco and go home. I have some extra classes tomorrow morning anyway. Ciao."


	5. Chapter 5: In My Dreams

_**Chapter 5: In My Dreams…**_

"_Raven?"_ Oh, no. Not THAT voice again. "Yes?" _"Sweetie, you don't have to speak out loud. Just think the words. It's more convenient that way no?"_ _"Like this?" "Perfect." I opened my eyes to find myself back in the place full of clouds except this time there were a few foreign objects. Like a punching bag hanging out of thin air, an archery target, and a…piano? "Um…Yumael?" Oh, and the lady was there too. "Yes?" She turned around to face me. "Not to say anything like you're a nut job but what's the piano for?" She let out a soft willowy laugh. "Singing. You can't expect to calm down my lover by just singing any old song can you?" I groaned._

_I've always hated singing lessons. You had to stand in front of the class and blurt out a song. If you sang well all the calls were sounded and if you didn't you probably got stuff thrown at your head. Of course I managed to get out by glaring at the butt-head of a music teacher. Singing lessons. Eww… Nerd much. "So what do I have to sing?" Yumael glided towards the piano and motioned me over. She started to play a soft beautiful…well…indescribably light tune. I'll try and give you a rough picture._

_It sounded feathery and flute-like and yet it was sweet and relaxing. But it also had some kind of strictness in the notes. Sounded really difficult to play. Even better than Jay Chou. (Sorry to Jay Chou fans) The music stopped. "You have to sing along to that." I closed my eyes and then slowly counted to ten. "Yes, but I don't know the words." She smiled at me and pulled out a sheet of what looked like parchment. "I wrote the lyrics for you. Go home and study them. Now there are some things you must know." I nodded. "This song takes time and precision. One wrong note or slip up and that's the end." I gulped. Then collected myself. "How hard could it be? I'll try my best."_

_Then, she took my face in her hands and kissed my temples. One on each side. "You should get some sleep now. Good night, little one." I took a step backwards. "Wait. You mean that's it? You're just gonna give me this piece of parchment with notes and lyrics and leave me to my own demise?" She laughed again then pointed to a window I hadn't noticed before. "It is already dawn child. The song is longer than you think." I sighed and nodded, trying to understand how time passed by so quickly…_

Then there I was. Back on my bed holding at least 5 sheets of DA paper. =P The sun was up just like in the dream but I just flopped myself on the sheets and closed my eyes. _"Good morning."_ I sat up with a jolt almost giving myself some really bad whiplash. But I wasn't mad. "What the HELL?" There was a wolf lying down on my bed right on the spot where my bolster should have been. I asked tentatively. "Fang?" The wolf seemed to raise an eyebrow. _"Duh."_ Then, I got mad. "WHAT IN THE *BEEP*ING *BEEP* OF *BEEP*ERS ARE YOU DOING HERE?" He/it slowly stretched one leg at a time and snuggled back down into my blankets. _"Waking you up."_ I sighed. He HAD done this before.

I guess I just got a bit grumpy because it was my first lesson with Yumael. I tucked the blankets under my chin and turned on my side to look at the sleeping form beside me. _"What are YOU looking at?"_ I shrugged. I had gotten used to the telepathy thing. I poked the wolfish creature and hugged it. It was easier to be friendly with Fang is this form because he couldn't stare at me at eye level like he could see through me. Instead it was replaced by a big fluffy pet of some kind. That's why these past few days he took to wolf form whenever he woke me up. I stroked the part behind his ear. "You do know that I am perfectly capable of waking up myself don't you?" Instead of an answer, I got a wolfish bark (?) and a shrug.

I sighed and got out of bed, "accidentally" throwing the covers on him/it. I heard a rustle and there was Fang (human form) sitting on my bed with his hair mussed up. I laughed and threw a comb at him in the most gracious manner possible. "Do you mind?" This was an early morning ritual already. He would wake me up, we would grab a few extra minutes. I would wake him up in some other form and he would turn around while I changed. He never left the room unless I did. The relationship between us had already evolved from chaperone and newbie to friends. It was weird. But I managed to keep the restrictions and defenses as clear as the day.

I pulled on a white tank top and jeans. "Wear a jacket. It's cold." I turned. "HEY! I said no peeking." He looked offended. "I never did!" I gave him my best 'of-course-you-weren't look and slipped into a black cardigan. I never wore make-up. Just the slightest bit of mascara could bring out my blue eyes. My oddly highlighted hair was attention enough. I wiped my face and we headed for breakfast. Such was our daily routine. Except for Saturdays and Sundays this was how the day started. The old Raven melted at home but froze into ice once taking a step into public compounds and property. You have been warned.

_**In school…**_

Today started with sports. Girls had different sports activities as the boys so I didn't see goody-two-shoes Fang anywhere. Like all the other days, I decided to ignore whatever the rest of the class was doing and practice some sword techniques I had learned from Red the other day. I was zipping around slicing and chopping some boards I had set up, getting into the vibe when my (sharp) ears picked up the conversation strategically placed near me. AGAIN.

"You know that new guy?"

"The cute one?"

"OMG! Isn't he like the hottest thing you've ever se-."

"Like, TOTALLY! But isn't SHE going out with him?"

"Since when?"

"No way. She's probably just slutting herself with him."

"You mean they're-."

"Of course they aren't"

"She's not even THAT pretty anyway. She just selling herself."

Something snapped in my brain and I most strategically as well, placed a well aimed strike at the blondest bimbo there, Venus. Just for a quick profile. School bitch and resident evil. Slut and is currently an item with our school quarterback. She thinks she can do anything she likes just because she dates a jock called Jake and is named after a frickin' planet. I did a slice which would have made Red proud and to my utmost delight, a blond curl drifted to the floor. Silence. And then…

"OH MY GO-."

"I am SOOOOOOOO sorry."

"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE, TRAMP!"

"It looks awful. Seriously. Hideous. But you REALLY shouldn't have been standing so near the fencing area. Somebody could have gotten hurt. (Insert evil glare and smirk here.)"

I let the threat settle in. You had to give some credit to these bimbos. They were smarter than thought. They even managed to process the threat within the 10 minute time period. Congratulations dearies. They're make-up caked faces scrunched up in pure hatred and I returned with a cool smile. I know. I would hate me too. Then I walked off and tried a different technique. But I couldn't resist. I turned around again and flashed my most dazzling grin at them. "You should get back to class now. I think I can see the PE prissies calling. Again."

They pouted their lip-gloss coated lips and stalked off with their heads in the air. I wanted to laugh but decided against it. Just in case they returned. I put together a couple of moves of my own. The teacher oblivious to my actions continued to teach the class but I couldn't help feeling pride whenever someone glanced at me in awe (including teacher).

_**An hour later…**_

"You…did…WHAT?" I smirked with pride as Fang slowly processed what I told him about PE class. We had met at our lockers (side by side) and were headed for Art class. By now, everyone was staring at us. And the outburst. "Chill. It was just a lock of hair. Besides…I think I put THAT move to good use." Fang let out a little bark of laughter. We reached class and to my utmost surprise, Mrs. Morris was giggling. Not only that but she was giggling at something a man had said. A certain red haired mad. A certain red haired, muscular man.

Now who do I know with red hair? We stopped dead in our tracks. In unison we said. "No. F *beeping*. Way." Mrs. Morris spotted us and waved us over. "These are the two best students in the class. Miss Winterstone, Mr. Darkbane, this is-." I cut her off here. "Hello, Red." She looked taken aback. "You know him?" Fang sighed. "What are you doing here?" Red was smiling. "Mrs. Morris happens to be a good friend of mine, sonny." Fang raised an eyebrow. I gave him a questioning look. Red sighed. "I'm enrolling Heather and Alex in the Junior School here."

Mrs. Morris looked very flushed. "It must be so difficult for Mr. Vladimir to raise two children on his own with his wife gone and all." Red gave Mrs. Morris one of his dazzling smiles. "Why thank you, Janine. But we have a positively wonderful friend of the family. Really treats them two kiddies like her own." Mrs. Morris looked like a pudding on Christmas Eve. "Oh, yes. That's right. What's her name…oh, yes…Miss. Camille Warner. Perhaps you two have heard of her?" She turned her face towards us. Red gave us a wink. Fang took the lead like a pro. "Miss. Warner…hmm…nope. Sorry. Doesn't ring a bell. Well, see ya around, Vlad."

My mouth was pretty much still agape when Fang dragged me to my seat. Finally, when I was done with the shock I turned to him. "Is it NORMAL for you people to simply barge in and be all over the school when you find someone like me?" He shrugged. "Like I told you. Others were normally already in the Organization when found. You're our first and hardest case so we're taking extra precautions." I rolled my eyes. "JUST because I was difficult to detect, doesn't mean that once you find me, my life becomes Wikipedia, kay?" You've already invaded my classes, my house, my CLOSET, and now you wanna have the TWINS at my SCHOOL? I don't think so."

I folded my arms across my chest and gave him one of my many glares. Ignoring it, he turned to his easel. "Hmm….come to think of it… I wasn't even aware that they were gonna enroll the kiddies in here." He turned back to me and continued. "Don't get too ahead of yourself. This might not even involve you at all." Realization stuck me like a pencil in the eye. "Could it be…?" He shrugged again. "I'm not sure, We'll ask around later at HQ if it makes you happy?" Again with the lopsided smile. I groaned, exasperated, then turned to the job at hand. Then I realized that Mrs. Morris had not given us any assignment and was still gaga-ing over Red. I sighed. Some free sketching would have to do then. Suddenly a thought hit me.

_(Flashback)_

_The teacher came in and swooped down on me like a hawk. Smiling at my painting, she took a look at Cedric's. She looked at me and back at him "You are very lucky to have such WONDERFUL inspiration around you." I gave him a puzzled look and he grinned sheepishly, turning the easel around. I saw that he had sketched me._

_(End of Flashback)_

Fang had decided to be lazy and was just sitting there, watching Red work his magic on Mrs. Morris and was probably trying to get a good eavesdropping session in. Perfect. I quietly picked up my drawing pencil, pulled back my hair into a messy bun and turned my easel away from him. It turned out to be a pretty simple job. After all, when you had that guy following you around 24/7, you kinda get used to the general body shape and all you have to do is concentrate on the features. Slowly I started to notice some things that I hadn't noticed before.

Like his hair. It was long and flowy but showed no hint of femininity. Only a rather wild, jungle-like feature. His chin wasn't square and well set like Red's but it was very pointed. His fingers were slender. His shoulders were slightly broader than normal. And I mean school jock normal. His nose was a little crooked too. As I was applying the finishing touches of shadow, I looked up and realized that my inspiration wasn't there anymore. I heard a small grunt of approval and turned around to see Red, Mrs. Morris and Fang standing behind me, studying the drawing.

Red's eyes were almost popping out. "Whoowee! Absolutely remarkable." Mrs. Morris nodded. "As always." Fang just smiled sheepishly and said. "She had some pretty good inspiration." I elbowed him hard in the ribs. "OW!" I rolled up the sketch and handed it to Red. "Go give it to the twins. Let'em play darts with it." Red laughed. "No can do, missy. But I have a feeling Cedric might like it." I turned to look at Fang who had an expectant look on his face. "Well?" I sighed. "Trade this one for my painting." He nodded. "Done." Then he reached out to take it when I pulled back. "Ah, ah, ah. Trade with you tomorrow when you have my painting." Red chuckled. "Drives a hard bargain this one does." Mrs. Morris nodded again, vigorously. Fang stuck out his tongue at me and returned to his seat, muttering something incoherently. I smiled mockingly at the childish display.

When the two adults had walked off, I whispered so only he could hear, "You'd better bring that painting or I'll give this to Venus." He gave me an extremely horrified, almost TERRIFIED expression. I wanted to laugh so hard. We really had nothing in common. "That girl…" He looked kinda pissed. "She thinks she can do whatever she wants just because she's named after a frickin' planet." Or did we?

_**The following week…**_

"BANG!" The doors to the Romano Mansion burst open and a very agonized young man ran up the stairs and banged on the door as frantic servants stood around him. "RAVEN! CAN YOU HEAR ME? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THERE? UNLOCK THE DOOR RIGHT NOW! COME ON OUT, RAE!" One of the servants, Rosa timidly came forward. "It's just as I said on the phone. She hasn't come out of her room for the past three days. She hasn't eaten either." Fang whirled around. "Who fixed the lock? Spare key?" Rose shook her head. "The missus took it with her before locking her self in." He groaned.

_(Flashback)_

_**2 hours ago…**_

'_BRING! BRING!'_

'_Hello? Bane residence. Who may I ask is speaking?'_

'_Rosa from the Romano residence. May I speak to Master Bane, please?'_

'_Speaking. Hey, Rosa! What's up?'_

'_Oh, Master Bane, it's Raven.'_

'…'

'_She's locked' herself in the room. She'd done it before but not to the extent of THREE days without food or water.'_

'_SHE DID WHAT?_

'_Like I was saying, she locke-.'_

'_BEEP. BEEP.'_

'_Hello?'_

_(End of Flashback)_

Fang was pacing back and forth, worry lines creasing his face. "How long will it take to make another key?" It was the Head Butler Ramses's turn now. "Impossible! The man died two years ago." Fang yelled in frustration. "Please calm down, Master Bane." Rosa came up carrying a tray of food and water. Fang just pushed it way. "The window?" Ramses replied. "Locked, sir." Fang wanted to pull his hair out by the roots. "WHAT COULD SHE BE DOING? When was the last time this happened?"

All the servants were startled. "Six years ago, Master Bane." He cocked an eyebrow. "What was she doing then?" Frowns appeared on the old butler's forehead. "She… the missus was trying to...well…she was trying to…" No more was needed to be said. Fang immediately rammed himself against the door. The servants tried to stop him but he continued, knocking his bulky frame against the hard panel wood and calling "RAVEN!" Suddenly he stopped. "Do you hear that?" There was silence all around as an indescribably beautiful, sweet, mysterious melody floated out of the room.

Everyone was entranced. It sounded like the saddest lullaby Fang had ever heard before. After a full 20 minutes, the music stopped. They all held their breaths as footsteps were heard against the marble floor. To everyone's (especially Fang's) utmost relief, the lock clicked and out came Raven in a silky nightgown. "Hi, everyone."


	6. Chapter 6: Feel The Music!

_**Chapter 6: Feel the music?**_

I let you a HUGE yawn. "What's everybody doing up here?" nobody answered but Fang just reached out and hugged me. I was pretty shocked. For goodness' sake the boy was shivering. Was it fear or relief or…anger? Slowly a whisper of shuddering breath came out as he said. "Don't. Ever. Ever. EVER. Do. That. Again…ever." I was still confused but the poor guy looked so distraught so I just wrapped my arms around him and stroked his hair. "I don't know what I did or why everybody's so worked up but…okay."

The servants started to disperse, some of them letting gout nervous or embarrassed coughs. Only Rose and Ramses stayed behind. I gave Fang an extra squeeze and then walked towards them. "So…how long was I out?" Ramses wore a huge smile of relief on his face as he said, "Three days, ma'am." "…"

Then all hell broke loose. My jaw probably unlocked itself and my mouth fell open. Fang had regained his composure (sort of) and was now shaking me back and forth yelling "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WERE YOU DOING IN THERE?" I turned to him as my mouth snapped shut. "I'll tell you during lunch. I feel really hungry all of a sudden." Then my legs gave way. Luckily, (I think) Fang caught me before I fell and carried me to the dining hall. On the way, I heard servants scurrying everywhere in frenzy.

As we passed the cook, I heard Fang. "Nothing rich. Some soup would be great. Then get some sorta carbs in her body. Sheesh! What has this girl been doing? Sleeping?" I opened my eyes. "Yep. Pretty much." He almost dropped me. "I thought you had fainted?" I rolled my eyes. "Yeah right. It'll take a hell of a lot to get THIS girl to faint." He laughed. "Like telling her that she's actually the reincarnation of a mythical creature?" I smacked his head. And from the position I was in, it was downright difficult. "Hey! That WAS a lot to handle! And it was after SCHOOL for crying out loud. Besides, you don't wanna know what ELSE was happening at that time."

A look of horror shot across his face and he squeezed his eyes shut. "Bad mental image. Thanks a lot, Rae. Don't worry though. I don't think I even wanna know anyway." We reached the dining hall and Rosa brought in two bowls of chicken soup. I groaned as he set me down on one of the chairs. Why the heck was I so tired? I really didn't know what was going on. Wait a minute…

_(Flashback)_

"_You have to FEEL the music, my dear." I rolled my eyes as Yumael pointed to another page. "Yeah, but what IS the feeling of the song anyway?" Yumael sighed. "You have to find that out for yourself. We've been practicing for quite some time now. Go on and wake up." I groaned. "You're being really difficult, you know?" Sweet laughter filled the air._

_._

_.._

…

…_._

…_.._

…

…_._

…_.._

…

…_._

_I woke up to find my sheets rumpled and my bolster tossed next to the piano. (OI! How'd it get all the way over THERE?) I got up to retrieve it. Suddenly, I heard the door rattling. There was a familiar voice outside calling me, but I just couldn't match a name to it. Anyhow, it reminded me of the incident a couple of years ago. I had locked myself up just like this. But the feeling was totally different from last time. I had thought that if something happened to me, they would come back._

_Subconsciously, I sat at the piano and ran my fingers across the keys. The music sheets were arranged neatly at the side. I picked it up and decided. As my fingers found the notes, random thoughts ran through my mind. Watching dad leave after getting a phone call. Mom leaving me at the funfair. Ryan's mocking face and evil smile. Remembering the pain of the broken piece of glass against my wrist. The screams as my mother and father suddenly burst through the doors. That…is what happened._

_(End of Flashback)_

It clicked. I remembered everything. I sipped a bit of soup and let the heat of it rush through my body. "Mmm…" Fang had his chin resting in his palm as he looked at me. I quickly finished my bowl of soup. As if reading my mind, Fang pushed his bowl towards me and handed me a loaf of bread. "Eat. Slowly." I nodded my thanks. After polishing off the meal, I felt much, MUCH better. "I remember now." He cocked his eyebrow. "I was having lessons with Yumael. I didn't think she was holding me up for that long."

His look was sarcastic now. "Then I woke up. I'm not sure why but then I started remembering a lot of stuff. Then I could play the-. OH!" Fang was looking really confused. "OH! THE SONG! I PLAYED IT! DIDN'T I? DID IT SOUND GOOD? WHO AM I KIDDING? OF COURSE IT SOUNDED GOOD! Come on!" I grabbed Fang's hand and we raced back upstairs. When we finally reached my room Fang awkwardly pointed at my half open bathrobe. "You might wanna get some decent clothes on first."

I looked down and blushed. But obviously, my skimpy nightgown wasn't the only problem now. The awkward atmosphere that had suddenly erupted lingered in the air. For the sake of not upsetting anything, I grabbed some clothes and changed in the bathroom. When I came back, it was less uncomfortable than before. Fang had settled down and propped some pillows behind his head as he swung his legs back and forth on the bed. I cleared my throat. Raising an eyebrow he just sighed. "You haven't eaten much and I will not hesitate to carry you down those stairs into the kitchen if I have to."

I groaned. "I'm fine. Will you just please listen to the song first." He nodded grumpily. I smiled. A little weakly I guess because his eyebrows knitted together in a worry line. "I'll be fine." I crossed over to the piano and closed my eyes. Feeling the cold ivory keys beneath my fingers I let the memories slowly play through my mind. Taking a deep breath, I started. I could still feel his eyes watching me. Ever so intently as my fingers danced lightly on the notes. After the song, I let the thoughts gather for a moment before suppressing them deep into my mind. Memories to be seen by no one but me.

I opened my eyes and turned to look at Fang. I had long ago stopped feeling his intense gaze and then I saw why. He was curled comfortably on my bed with a smile on his lips. His calm closed eyes were at that time the best compliment ever received. I stood up and walked over to him. I sat down at the edge of the bed and stared into his face. Who knew that such a face could hold such sadness? I didn't know much about his childhood, but I wanted too. I brushed a stray hair away from his face and got up to leave. I felt a tug on my wrist. "Don't go." His eyes were open now. But his face seemed fearful, scared. As if he was trying to forget something. To my surprise, more of shock, small glistening tears were forming.

I nodded and sat back down gently. "Thank you." We stayed like that for god knows how long. Just me sitting there staring into his face as he slept peacefully, with a smile on his face, my hand in his, and a memories of a broken heart.

_**An hour later…**_

After Fang woke up, we went down to have a proper meal. Sort of like a dunch or linner or luncher. XD. Whatever. But it was GOOD! I don't know what I did to make the cooks so anxious, but I think the special dinner was there for a reason. I chewed on a piece of tenderloin as Fang related to me what everybody had been experiencing outside my room. He also filled me in on the going on back at HQ. Turns out Draco had a couple of things to show me. Fang wouldn't tell me. Kept saying it was a surprise. I was pretty frustrated but I was still tired. Not sleepy, but tired. So I pretty much spent the entire day eating and sitting on the sofa in the living room.

I felt like such a couch potato. Fang found a couple of DVDs to watch so…yeah… we pretty much spent the rest of the day being lazy bums. The next day, I was feeling much better. Fang had left but came back to walk me to school. But there was something different about him this time. Fang doesn't have two children attached to his arms does he? No…then those too kids who are getting closer and closer by the second… must be… OH!

"HI, RAVEN!" The cry echoed across the garden and I recognized the two voices. Heather and Alex. I smiled genuinely pleased to see their smiling faces. Heather practically bounced up the steps and almost knocked me down. Alex followed suit and in seconds…. they knocked me down. They yelled excitedly and rolled around in pure, childish glee. It was hard to believe that these two children could smash chairs and make people commit suicide by just suggesting it. Fang was just smiling pleasantly as he stepped through the door.

"Okay guys. Get off her. Time for Raven to get changed." I nodded and stood. Casually climbing the stairs, I reached my room and got dressed. Normally I wouldn't wear bright or light colours but all my black shirts had mysteriously been replaced. (Insert Fang's evil grin here.) So I just pulled on a baby blue top and slipped into a pair of cargos. Grabbing my books I raced back down the stairs to find Fang and the twins seated comfortably at the living room crouching over one of my baby photo albums. *gasp*

"What. The. *BEEEEEEEEEP!*. Are. You. Doing?" The twins gasped either at the new pronounced vocabulary or at my facial expression because I knew I must have looked like some reincarnation of the Hulk. I quickly grabbed the album and chucked it into a random drawer. I quickly composed myself and gave an icy glare at Fang. His mouth crinkled up at the sides in an almost mocking smile. I bent down and said hello to the twins. Then turned towards the door. "Lets go." Fang looked at the twins and shrugged. He reached to take hold of Heather and Alex's hands but the quickly raced to my side. "I wanna hold Raven's hand!" They chorused in unison.

I stared helplessly at Fang and he shrugged again. I let out an exasperated groan and took the two hands in my own and we walked to school. "So tell me more about this organization." I inquired as the twins skipped happily beside me. Fang trudged behind with his hands in his pockets. "It's kinda like a school too. But with no age limit. And of course everything they teach there is of more substance. At least that's what Heather and I think." Alex's voice was happy as he slowed down and fell into step next to me. Heather did the same. "Oh, and there is a training session today. And Fang?" I heard a grunt behind me. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Lay off it will ya?" I heard the twins giggled but decided not to inquire further.

A couple of minutes later, my curiosity took over. "What're you guys talking about?" The twins laughed. "KNEW SHE WAS GONNA SAY THAT!" I grumbled. "Freaky mind-readers." They giggled and I caught sight of Fang signaling frantically and mouthing "No" over and over again. The 'evil pair smirked and made the decision to embarrass Fang by answering me. "We're in a…. band." I lifted an eyebrow. "What?" Fang groaned loudly and flustered a bit. "Well… like I said… you see… it is kinda like… well… school I guess…. You know…. Normal school activities." I shrugged. "Nothing to be embarrassed about." The twins grinned again. "Fang plays bass. He sings too." Now I was interested.

"You sing?" A pale blush was creeping to his pale cheeks. His normally pale, vampire-like face looked a little flushed. "A little." He mumbled. I smiled inwardly at this new thought of blackmail. I felt a smile make its way to my face. "Can I come watch?" I bent a little to look at the twins. They understood me perfectly and nodded together. With their free hands, they high-fived each other. I could hear Fang growling a little in the background. Finally we arrived at the school. I looked back at Fang. "Are we supposed to accompany them to the Primary side?" "Duh!" Heather was looking at me as if I had suddenly sprouted a tail and ears. I mumbled an apology and tried to look as apologetic as possible. I could almost see Fang's wolfish grin at my discomfort.

Oh, if I could just get my hands on him. Boy, would he be in deep doody. My imagination would be full of new ways to give him the privilege of being introduced to a really bad feeling we call 'pain'. The twins were already way ahead of me now. I had to run to catch up. "Darn, those kids were fast. Not to mention powerful, energetic, and worst of all, dangerous. I was still a little weary of the organization but since I knew little about it, I thought it would be worth staying. After all, an idle mind is the devils playground. When we dropped the twins off and got to our block, I realized that everyone was staring at me. Why? *crickets heard in the background.─

5"Damn." Speak of the devil…. I turned around and realized that I had made the biggest mistake of my life. I appeared at school with Fang. Yeah, we walk to school and all but I normally make him go through the school gate five minutes later or earlier. Appearing at school, in public, with a guy who just happened to be one of the hot topics could get you killed… Or stampeded on by a herd of cheerleaders. "Double damn!"

_**Five hours later…**_

I am going to KILL! More specifically…. I am going to kill FANG! Damn him to the tenth level of hell. May he burn and suffer eternally in a pit of flames. (MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) "Are you…. Okay?" I stopped short of a heart attack. Forcing a smile, I realized that for the past half an hour I had been slashing wildly at my easel. Fang was looking at me with a rather concerned look on his oh-so-handsome-fa-...wait a minute. ARGH! I DID NOT JUST SAY THAT!

Suddenly my violent attempts at feigned calm and patience were interrupted by Mrs. Whatshername. "Oh, my. What an angry, yet expressive abstract you have there. What is it exactly?" I shrugged. "Aw, you know. There's a pit of fire, there's the guy who falls (Gets pushed) into it. The usual." I could tell Mrs. Morris was probably thinking _'I wonder how long it would take me to have this child taken to a mental institution and back.'_

Hang on a minute. Where did that voice come from? I looked around frantically. "Did you say something, Mrs. Morris?" She looked at me suspiciously. "Yes, as a matter of fact I did. I was saying how odd you have been behaving these past few days. Don't you agree, Mr. Darkbane?" Fang looked up and smiled this charming smile that would have fallen women at fifty paces and said, "Why, yes. I think so too." I was practically shaking with anger. How DARE he? I'm going to make him wish he had never been born… and then some. But where did that voice come from.

My brain was buzzing with activity. Since my confrontation with the Organization, I suppose I could base most of my answers on the supernatural. So the most obvious answer being… mind-reading? Should I tell Fang? No, the big question is, should I tell anybody? I still didn't know them well enough to trust them 100% so it was pretty impossible that I would tell them this amazing discovery of mine. Maybe I'll speak to Yumael about it. In my dreams…


	7. Chapter 7: My Dirty Little Secret

_**Chapter 7: My Dirty Little Secret…**_

It was an 'interesting' experience. Everywhere I turned there were echoed voices inside my head. I was pretty impressed with myself. (=P) A normal person would have cracked and gone totally insane. But instead, my brain just started sorting all the voices out and even though I hadn't even met most of the people whom the voices belonged to, I knew it was them. It felt…advantageous.

I put it to the best of use in Mr. Fitzgerald's class. The pop-quiz next week would be easily prepared for. I felt notorious. This new energy had entered my body and I found out gossip, information, and some of the questions for the next exam. I was feeling light-headed as I strode past the school grounds. Suddenly, I felt a menacing, venomous, almost evil presence behind me. I didn't have time to react. I couldn't believe my lightning fast reflexes had failed me. It happened all in a split second.

First the distinct smell of 'Poison' by Christian Dior. Then the large, masculine hand placed roughly on my back. Then the pressure applied which sent me tumbling down a slope, through the field and inches away from the monsoon drain. I heard a satisfied grunt and footsteps running quickly in the direction of the exit. But I couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't see anything. Darkness was surrounding me. I heard screaming. A horrible, pained, sorrowful cry. Then, I realized, the cry…was mine.

_**In the Biology Lab… (Fang's pov)**_

The Cheerleaders were here. The whole pride of manicured, pedicured, perfumed airheads. "Hey, Cedric!" All of a sudden, this waft of horrible smelling perfume blasted in my face and a very plastic and heavy set of female anatomy were shoved right in front of me. I looked up to find, the one and only, Venus. She was staring down at me with her eyelids batting away at twice the speed of a dragonfly's wings. The word 'fear' could not begin to describe the emotions welling up inside me as she placed one of her hands on my shoulder.

Then the words I dreaded the most escaped her lipstick caked lips:

"So…are you free, Friday night?"

I wanted to die. If she was a guy, then I wouldn't have hesitated to send her light-years ahead…in a deep coma. But she was a girl. A very evil girl. But I had no substantial evidence so I couldn't drop kick her into next year. Raven was an entirely different subject. She was the exact opposite of the specimen standing before me. This single cell organism was nothing compared to Raven's intelligence and strength and resolve and beau- wait. What? Forget it. The point being that this girl was very bad news. And the fact that she was asking me out was even worse news. Therefore, I decided to divert the conversation.

"Nice…perfume." (If it could be called that). She was distracted. Mission accomplished. "You like?" she practically growled. "It's 'Pure Poison'." I almost choked my guts out. "You don't say." Then one of the cronies spoke up. "By Christian Dior, you know. It's like, her, like, signature smell, or something. It's like, so totally awesome." I wanted to die laughing. I wanted that girl, if I remember correctly, Sunny, to keep talking but the look Venus threw at her could have silenced a herd of panicking, trumpeting elephants. But praise be because Sunny was no panicking, trumpeting elephant. Thank goodness for stupid people.

Sunny plowed on. "It's like, so awesome, and, like, so amazing, and totally, like, expensive, but she can, like, afford anything she, like, wants because her family is like, so totally like, rich and they practically, like, BATHE in money, like, totally." She finished with a winsome smile. Until now, I had never heard someone use the word 'like' so many, many, MANY times in a single sentence with one single breath. I was very….impressed.

Then, Venus told her to shut up. (Dying fanfare in the background) So she did. Oh, poopie. I was at the woman's mercy once again. Once again her plastic coated face was directed at me. "So… like I said. Doing anything, Friday?" I had to think fast. "Why, YES! I… um… have some… uh… practice. Yeah. SO sorry about that." Her eyes were no longer the huge sparkly , blue orbs (visible contact lenses) they once were. Now they were slanted and suspicious. SO unlike Raven. Her eyes are all blue and natural and deep and bea- wait… yeah. Forget that too. She looked dangerous. No wonder why Raven doesn't like school. I shuddered inwardly. "What KIND of practice?"

I almost broke out in cold sweat. Thankfully, I didn't. "Err…" (Stroke of genius) "Band practice." Venus's eyes widened. "You play in a band?" (Not so genius anymore) "Well, I'm having this party on Friday night so you and your band should, totally play there." I wanted to die. Suddenly, I didn't feel so scared anymore. Now, I was TERRIFIED. "Uh, well. You see… we already arranged everything… and, yeah." ARGH! Couldn't she read the SIGNS! _'NO, I DO NOT WANT TO GO OUT WITH YOU!'_ Why didn't she have telepathic talents? "Where are you gonna have that practice. Maybe, I could come watch." She looked kind of desperate now. Obviously she didn't want to break her date record by getting dumped by one of the, as Raven calls it, hot topics, at school.

"Raven's house." I said that so fast, I didn't even know what I was saying. "…." (crickets sounding in the background) _'Forgive me, Raven.'_ I silently prayed. I felt really bad, but it had the desired effect. Venus was silent for a while. "That…girl…. Is in a band?" I nodded. Then all of the cronies started talking at the same time:

Crony 1: "She can SING?"

Crony 2: "Is she even GOOD?"

Crony 3: "Are they, like, going out or something?"

Crony 4: "No way. That girl hasn't gone out with anybody in years. Why start now?"

Crony 2: "Yeah, her rep's ruined already."

Then Venus spoke up. "Then I'll pass. But first, let me give you a warning. THAT…_girl_… is very, VERY bad news. You should ask around at school nowadays. Please be careful. I wouldn't want ANYTHING to happen to you." She gazed at me seductively and walked off with her entourage. I just sat there. Confused and slightly worried. Suddenly, I picked up a pained scream far off. Obviously, nobody else heard. I got up abruptly and raced towards the field. There was no doubt about it. The screaming was Raven's.

Suddenly… it stopped. I could have gotten to the field in half the time if only there weren't so many onlookers and teachers. So, I just had to get there the old way. I reached the field and morphed my eyes into that of a snake. I sensed heat in the direction of the monsoon drain and quickly raced in that direction. As soon as I got close, I morphed back and found Raven. She was lying CENTIMETRES from the edge and her legs were folded in a grotesque position. I slowly reached for her. As soon as I got my arms around her waist, I hoisted her towards me and lifted her in my arms. She was surprisingly light. Sheesh. What had happened. Seriously, you could never get bored with this girl.

I placed her down on the grass and checked to make sure no one was watching. Then, I morphed into a wolf and sniffed around. I found what I was looking for. The faint but familiar scent of bad perfume. It was mixed with a kind of deodorant that I recognized was for men. But it was definitely 'Pure Poison'.

_**(End of pov)**_

I wanted to scream out in frustration. It was pitch black all around me. I couldn't see anything, but I knew someone was there. "Wakey, wakey." "Will she be okay?" "Huh? Ah, oh, yes. She's sprained her ankle pretty badly. Tore a ligament but thankfully nothing's broken. She's healing rather quickly though. But not to worry." I heard a sigh. Suddenly, I felt warmth flood through my body. "She'll be fine after drinking this." I sputtered and my eyes shot open. It tasted disgusting. "What *cough* is *cough* that?" I saw our school doctor with a cup of pink, thick liquid. If my eyesight hadn't failed my yet, there was something floating in it. (Somebody PLEASE check the expiration dates on those nasties.)Some of it was still in the cup, but most of it was on his clean (?), white (?) lab coat.

There was a somewhat mortified Fang sitting in a chair next to the bed I was lying on. I muttered an apology and shot out of the bed. I only managed a few steps before wincing as an unfamiliar pain shot up my right leg and choked the breath out of me. I immediately collapsed in an embarrassing heap. Or, I would've if Fang's reflexes had suddenly malfunctioned, though I wish they had because I was in a rather awkward position. Fang's arms were around my waist, my legs were bent in a rather disfigured way and I was leaning into him. Ugh!

"Thanks." I mumbled and received a nod. "I'm amazed you could even walk three steps, let alone stand up by yourself. After all, you did have a pretty nasty fall. Wanna tell us what happened?" The doctor is now nosey parker number 3 on my list. (After my parents and Fang) I growled at him and shook my head quickly. "I'm fine. Just take me home." That was directed at Fang. He just nodded. But somehow I could tell that this enquiry was far from over. But he had this puzzled look on his face when he came near me, as if he was trying to work out a difficult (Not that I knew difficult. XD) mathematics problem or something.

To my surprise, my car was already waiting outside the school grounds. People were whispering and casting glances at it. After all, how many of these kids had seen a limo before? Of, course I didn't blame them. The whispering increased and got louder when they saw Fang help me into the car and get in after me. I knew I was gonna be in deep doo-doo the next time I went to school. We drove to the junior school grounds and picked up the twins who were anxiously waiting at the gate. "How did they know?" Fang shrugged. "I sent a message to them when I was checking for a scent, if you know what I mean. They might come in handy finding out who would dare push you like that."

My jaw dropped. "How did you know?" He smiled that wolfish grin and tilted my chin upwards to face him. "The Raven I know wouldn't do something clumsy like that. Or do you have a clone duck-taped in a closet somewhere?" I wrenched myself away just as soon as the twins reached the car. They quickly got in and crawled over a yelping, protesting Fang and sat on either sides of me. "Are you okay?" "How did it happen?" Fang sat up a little straighter, trying to regain his dignity after being crawled over by a pair of kids. His face suddenly grew serious. "She was pushed."

The twins frowned and nodded. They stayed silent for the rest of the way home. When we arrived, they quickly helped me out of the car and we went to my study upstairs. The twins immediately turned on Fang. "What did you find?" Fang shrugged. "I detected a scent of perfume mixed with sweat and deodorant. The perfume was easy enough to figure out." He looked at me. "Any idea who would wear something as horrible as 'Poison'?" I gasped. "Venus…"

"Exactly. But it was incredibly faint. The deodorant and sweat were stronger. The fingerprints I saw on your back were also too big to be female." I muddled over it for a while. (Insert gasp here. Again.) "Jake." Suddenly this image of Jake blasted through my mind. Murderous thoughts filled my head. As I detected the strong urge to hurt from Fang, I could hear the twins thinking about ways to disembody 'the person called Jake'. I suddenly realized. Not only could I read minds, I could _see_ what they were thinking. I took a mental snapshot of one of Fang's thoughts. Too gruesome to describe to all you readers out there. XD

'_It just keeps getting better.'_ I sighed despite myself and got worried glances from everybody in the room. "WHAT? It's not like I died or anything. Sheesh." Fang got up and paced back and forth. "But you almost did. When I found you, you were unconscious and you stopped breathing twice for about five minutes." The twin's faces were dark as they studied me with their stern gazes. They looked really worried. They sighed at the same time. "The growth spurt is too fast. In less than a month she has already had two jolt fevers." Fang eyes grew to slits as he stared straight at me. "But judging by her physical capacity, her body should be able to take that much and still be in stable condition. On the other hand, a THIRD jolt fever would certainly do it. Hmm… Have you been hiding anything from us, Miss Winterstone?"

I thanked my lucky stars for the gift of lying. "No. Why would I do that?" His face softened but my new skill told me otherwise. I ploughed on. "Besides, I thought the normal skill enhancement only has one jolt fever. Why did I go through two?" "Hmm…" The twins were deep in thought. Fang was still giving me the slanty eyed look. I rolled my eyes and gave him my best you-are-so-paranoid-look (which I had just invented. XD) He ignored me and paced again. The twins looked up and smiled. "Well, the good news is that your physical condition and extraordinary power accumulation should be enough to mend the broken tissues and ligaments in less than a couple of days. I'll give it some extra rest though if I were you." Heather smiled like a professional therapist. I couldn't help but nod and grin back. I could still read anxiety on their faces but what the heck. Let them worry about my problems.

I looked around and pretended to be uninterested. I could hear the twins whispering at the other side of the room. Fang had left to get something for me to drink. I insisted he let the servants do it but he WAS the stubborn ba-donkey so he ended up getting lost on the way to the kitchen. Just kidding. He made it back okay. I sighed and slowly sipped the lemonade. Trust Fang to pick the cup with the little doggies on them. Slowly I found myself lolling off to sleep as the twins continued plotting Venus and Jake's demise. I could feel my eyelids fluttering closed when suddenly, "Psst. I know this isn't the best time but… I have a favour to ask." Fang was at the edge of my couch with his legs perched on the arms. He was leaning in pretty close to whisper and I could smell the familiar warm, minty, smell. "What did you do this time?" He wore an innocent, yet apologetic face and pulled a gag before dramatically announcing… "'thavetogoonadatewithher."

"…" My brain slowly tried to reprocess the nonsense that was spewing out to no avail. Finally I gave up and smacked his head. "Again. But slower. My head hurts." He looked kind of nervous now. "I told Venus…. That we were in a band…and we were gonna practice… at your house." A vein popped in my head and I'm sure Fang noticed it. "Why the F- *ahem* Why would you do THAT?" He was shuddering as he said, "So I wouldn't have to go on a date." I narrowed my eyes at him. "With her." He hastily added. I couldn't help it. The look on his face was just priceless. The corners of my mouth held a couple more seconds before I burst out laughing. "Seriously? She asked you out? Hahahahahaha…" He was a little mortified but looked quite relieved. "Yeah. I was kind of wondering when she'd cheat on Jake." I suddenly went serious. "So, it looks like I'm in the band. Wait. Raven's don't sing." (the crickets never fail to appear) The twins had stopped talking to eavesdrop on our conversation. Suddenly Heather stood up. "I think we should go to HQ." Alex grinned at his sister. "Agreed."

My brain was working double time. I mean, for a genius like me, XD, this was pretty much. "What are you guys planning?" They just smiled. Evilly. Without further ado, Raven was kidnapped, half dragged, half rolled to the car.


	8. Chapter 8: ReadySetGO!

_**Chapter 8: Ready… Set… GO!**_

Red and Sydney were waiting for us. Damn telepathy. The twins had bound and gagged me in the back seat while Fang drove us to HQ. As if THAT wasn't enough, they stopped my ears with cotton buds and briefed Fang on my doom during the journey. They all must DIE! Before we arrived, they unbound me and then dragged me into the shed at the playground and down the stairs. Fang walked behind us so there was NO ESCAPE! (Author's note: Poor her. XD) Red was rather enthusiastic. Sydney just had the 'not again' look on her face. They led me into a room with a recording system, there were music instruments stacked everywhere in neat piles or hanging on racks. In the middle of the room was a huge grand piano. It looked like… heaven.

The twins smiled at Fang when they saw my expression. Obviously he would have seen my sparkly eyes and twitching fingers because he looked about ready to snort with laughter. Red had that cheeky grin plastered on his face as he said, "You're welcome to try them out if you want." The words of my undoing. I made a slow(?) walk towards an impressive looking electric violin. It was the last one on the rack and was hollowed out very beautifully. "Whose is this?" Alex grinned and proudly raised his hand. "You play the electric violin?" He nodded and proceeded to give me a live demonstration. He played something that would have put Vivaldi to shame. "I'm guessing one of you play the drums right?" Red nodded. "That would be me. Fang's rhythm isn't what it used to be." The sides of my mouth were probably twitching because this statement resulted in Fang quickly denying it and punching Red.

I grabbed Fang's hand in a fist-holder before he could get another hit in. "What do YOU play then?" He picked up a beautiful guitar and strummed a few notes. "Depends on what we're playing." I nodded. "So I guess everyone in this organization is musically talented?" "No, just 75% of us I guess." "But we're the best." Alex grinned as if his just made statement wasn't conceited at all. I couldn't help but smile. Just a little. Heather poked me and giggled. "Wanna hear us play?" I really wanted to but I just couldn't bring myself to say it. My pride was at stake. But thank God for the mind-reading skill. Heather nodded as if she understood everything and nodded to the rest. I chose a plush couch and sighed at my naivety. These people were NOT to be taken lightly.

A little tune started to play as Fang strummed on a black and purple decorated acoustic guitar. (Hey, I need to get me one of those. XD. )

_Will you be my favourite regret_

_Could I be your sweetest mistake_

_Tread one step back forth to the end_

_Just a little time that's all_

_Don't be afraid to fall_

_It's a catch I won't forget_

_My favourite regret_

_Won't you let me chip away the stone_

_Or are you really better off alone_

_Won't you let your guard down one more time_

_Just like after mine_

_Look until we find_

_Something neither will forget_

_My favourite regret_

_Will you be my favourite regret_

_Cut the strings attached but_

_Save the thread_

_Yet I know your feeling's probably right_

_But just this once tonight_

_As you lie in your bed_

_Place a little on this bet_

_My favourite regret_

His eye lids somehow fluttered as the song ended and he stared at me through long lashes as if waiting for my approval. But I had to admit. He sounded (and looked. *cough*) really good. I cleared my throat and stood up. With a little fancy flourish, I lifted my head and challenged Red. "Ho, ho, ho… You wanna try me now do ya, missy? Very well, then." He picked up a flame decorated guitar and showed off his name embossed in gold on the side. The twins snorted and made faces at him.

_I found you in the most unlikely way_

_But really it was you who found me_

_I found myself in the gifts that you gave_

_You gave me so much and I_

_Wish you could stay_

_But I'll_

_I'll wait for the day_

_And I'll watch as the cold winter melts into spring_

_And I'll be remembering you_

_Oh, and I'll smell the flowers_

_And hear the birds sing_

_And I'll be remembering you_

_I'll be remembering you_

_From the first moment_

_When I heard your name_

_Something in my heart came alive_

_And you showed me love that no words could explain_

_A love with the power to_

_Open the door_

_To a world_

_I was made for_

_And I'll watch as the cold winter melts into spring_

_And I'll be remembering you_

_Oh, and I'll smell the flowers_

_And hear the birds sing_

_And I'll be remembering you_

_And I'll watch as the sun fills the sky that was dark_

_And I'll be remembering you_

_And I'll think of the way that you filled up my heart_

_I'll be remembering you_

The first thing I noticed was that the WHOLE time he sang the song, he was staring at Sydney. He did have a really sultry voice. Very romantic. (LOL) I could almost detect the faint blush on her dark skin as she kept looking away to stare at a certain part of the walls. Fang and I caught each others eyes and we grinned. The twins were almost falling over with giggles. Fang almost had to clamp his hand over Alex's mouth to keep him from snorting again and ruining the moment. Eventually we had to though so I decided to do the honours. "Does Sydney sing?" Red jerked a little and then refocused. "Oh, um, well, not exactly. She can. But only on rare occasions. Like if you pointed a gun at her face after she's drunk at least thirty bottles of booze." Fang chuckled. "Don't remind me." Sydney glared at them as they shared the joke that seemed to have escaped the ears of myself and the twins.

The twins looked pretty upset at being left so since Alex had already sent all string instrument players in the world to their graves, he nudged his sister. She sidled up to a keyboard tucked away in a corner. My "Why is it covered?" question was answered when she whipped the black cloth off and a hot-pink-cherry-red-sparkly-enough-to-hurt-and-blind-your-eyes-for-life-keyboard revealed itself. I had to shield my eyes for a minute. "Ouch." Everybody was grinning, Sydney included. (0.0) I was temporarily blinded before the cute grinning child suddenly started banging out Chopin like a pro on an angsty day. My eyes almost boggled and fell out of my head. Almost. By the time she had finished, she was wiping sweat off her forehead. I couldn't help but look at her in wonder.

Suddenly all eyes were on me. "What?" Fang just gave me this HUGE, MENACING, MOCKING, EVIL grin. "…" Red was uncovering a beautiful ivory-white piano. "No. , NO!" Sydney's eyes were glinting in the dark corner she had placed herself. Red was looking at the ceiling, trying not to laugh at my pain. Fang wasn't even bothering to hide the smirk that had turned into spasms of laughter as he shuddered with silent glee in a corner. Then I made a BIG, no, MASSIVE mistake. I looked at the twins and saw two pairs of red and purple, glowing orbs of light. I could have almost smacked myself if I wasn't too busy trying a desperate attempt at blocking their mesmer. All of a sudden the twins' eyes stopped glowing and they frowned. Like, seriously, frowned.

Fang had stopped laughing and tilted his head in confusion. Sydney quickly strode to the center of the room. Her hair looked like slivers of silver sunlight as the hair danced across her olive skin. "What's happening?" The twins shook their heads. Alex looked up with the expected hint of a smile. What I didn't expect to see was the look of fear on Heather's face when she glanced briefly at Fang. "What? What's going on?" I was starting to panic. Alex studied me for a while before explaining. "Since I can only paralyze a person, my telekinetic powers aren't as strong as Heather. I may be good for a strong, physical, magic attack." He paused for a while to let it sink in. "Heather's powers however are 80% based on the persons mentality. So most of the pain she inflicts is all in a persons head. That's why she looks so scared. Actually, I don't know what she saw either but what I saw was a thick black mist. Not black actually, more of a silvery midnight colour."

Red decided to butt in to lighten the mood and walked up to me and poked my head. "I don't see anything. I don't feel anything." Heather was looking more like herself now and smiled a little. I was still burning with curiosity, but I was pretty proud that my face was the picture of calm disinterest. Heather looked down and shuffled her feet a little. Alex sighed and nudged her a little in the ribs. She finally looked up. "It was really big. I've never seen anything like it before. And it was…scary." Red was making strange whistling noises. "WHAT are you doing?" Sydney was glaring at him. Red stopped only long enough to say, "Whistling is supposed to ward off evil demons." Fang looked confused. "I thought whistling was supposed to attract demons to possess you?" Red grinned sheepishly. "Oh." Alex let out a short giggle and then the spotlight was on Heather again.

"I really don't know what it was. But it was big, with wings and blue eyes. There was something red in its mouth. I think I could smell blood." Her faced had turned pale. Fang came and stood next to me. "Heather has been in a lot of fights and seen blood from wounds she had inflicted herself. That's why we're all so worried. Normally she isn't spooked this easily." I nodded slowly, still trying to figure out what the little girl had seen. Finally, I gave up and surprised myself by feeling a little guilty about the whole thing. _'Raven, Raven. You're getting soft. You're such a yellow-bellied chicken.'_ I sighed and walked over to the piano. Before anyone could even gasp in surprise, I played a little melody on the piano. Darn. It sounded nicer than it was supposed to. I continued anyway and ended it with a little fancy finish and looked at the "crowd". Red was grinning like and idiot. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hold a formal concert to display your piano playing skills to the rest of the world." I gave him this really pissed look and rolled my eyes.

"I don't see any reason why not." Everyone's mouth hung open as time seemed to screech to a halt. Sydney's eyes had a warning look but there was no denying the words that had come from her mouth about a millisecond ago. I was slightly miffed, but somehow, her words had given me small, victorious glee. Finally, I was able to see the rest of this place without taking tunnels. Maybe I could get a closer look at the technology they used around here. The people (?) were no problem. I could ignore them completely if I wanted to. I was in no hurry to get acquainted with the rest of the organization. But it involved playing the piano in front of them. Looks like she wasn't letting me off without a catch. _'Oh, I get it now. She wants to showcase my best talents before I make a complete fool of myself. That's what she THINKS will happen anyway. They are SO predictable.'_ I felt really stupid and mad for actually HOPING that she had finally recognized my capability.

"No. I'm fine with it. Let's just forget this ever happened." I could have strangled her when the corners of her mouth curled upwards in a small smirk of triumph. But I was not about to become an object for display. But I would 'wow' EVERYONE, even Sydney, when I was ready to face the rest of the mystery. Fang's look was one of sympathy as he glanced thoughtfully at me. Once again, it was Red who put an end to the hostile environment. "So, I think she should join the band. Whatever the rest of you may say. Any objections?" My eyes widened for the umpteenth time that day. ME? In a BAND? That was like inviting Osama into America with fifty tons of radioactive explosives. With a cigarette lighter!

"Oh, no you don't. Please withdraw that statement before I leave your high-esteemed band in small, microscopic pieces of rubble." Fang shook his head. "Nope. I think we are all in agreement that Raven is now the official member of our band. So…. Do you have any other hidden musical talents that we don't know about?" I could see I wasn't getting out of this one. But it was worth one last shot. "Seriously guys. Jut leave me to my own demise and plod along at your happy musical paces without me. I'll leave the audience bleeding from their ears." This time my good intentions were met with more than one shading head. The twins were grinning from ear to ear as they assessed my desperate attempts at escape. I would have groaned in exasperation if I hadn't been suddenly tackled from behind, without warning, by a certain red-headed man whom I wanted to damage. Red practically guffawed in my ear and nudged me towards the many musical instruments. "Can you play anything else for us, then?"

I sighed and tilted my head thoughtfully before turning to face him. "I would rather have a scythe shoved up my ass then get myself into anymore problems." Fang flinched and Red rubbed his arm reflexively. "Ouch!" Fang suddenly looked up and announced. "Don't we have something to tell this child?" I raised an eyebrow in his direction and he shrugged. "So, what's going on? Did something bad happen?" The twins looked at each other for a while and finally walked up to me. "We think it would be better if we showed you." I nodded complacently but deep inside I had this really sinking feeling that it had something to do with my guardian. Come to think of it. I hadn't seen the little guy in about three weeks. Where was he?

We went through the tunnels again. I growled at the memory of Sydney trying to display me like I was some kind of freak show. Fang seemed to have heard me because he was by my side immediately and stroked my head. I would have hit him but I didn't. For two reasons. One: the sound would have echoed and everyone would see what was happening and make the wrong assumption. Two: Although I hated to admit it, it DID feel comforting. In a slightly awkward way. Nevertheless, it helped me endure the silent disappointment at still having to hide from the rest of the organization. Not that I had a problem with it but it still sucked – big time – having someone NOT recognize your natural abilities and respect your decisions.

Suddenly, the twins took a turn I had never used before. It led to a huge laboratory. Large screens covered almost every part of the room and wires were decorating the polished marble floor. But what really caught my eye was the young man, probably no older than Fang or I, sitting on a small bed in a corner. The twins approached the young man cautiously and beckoned me over. I stepped carefully, so as not to trip over the many wires and finally, I found myself face to face with a rather striking looking person. His hair was blue-black and his skin was pale white. But what really made him intriguing to look at were the blue and silver markings and patterns on his skin. All of a sudden, it hit me. It was Draco!


	9. Chapter 9: Confrontation

_**Chapter 9: Confrontation**_

I almost reeled back in shock. "I thought this would only happen after – what? - THREE MONTHS?" The others were inspecting him while the twins nodded and said, "That is what SHOULD happen. But this sudden growth spurt really surprised us. The only conclusion was that his ward was also experiencing similar signs." I steeped over the last wire and slowly reached out, but Draco recoiled quickly so I reluctantly withdrew my hand. "That's the other problem. He won't let anyone inspect him, touch him or even feed him!" Draco's eyes were frightened as he stared warily in our direction. I sighed and turned to look at the twins.

"Can I have some time with him?" They nodded but didn't budge. "ALONE." Fang took the cue and hustled everyone out. Once again I took another look at the little dragon-boy. He was skinny and so fragile looking I thought his bones might snap if I tried to touch him. A strange wing-like bone structure could be seen in his back. It didn't protrude outward but it DID look as if his wings had moulded into his body. But there wasn't enough flesh to cover it up. Blue-green veins showed on almost every part of his body. He was so sad and skinny. "Draco?" his head jerked up and I heard a small growling noise. "Remember me?" It grew louder as he continued to eye me suspiciously. "Guess not, huh?"

All of a sudden, I felt a presence behind me and I whirled around only to see Draco jump in between 3 dark robed figures and myself. "What the hell? Who are you?" I readied myself for an attack but none came. "We are not here to fight. We merely wish to converse with the one called the Dragon-child about a few little recent escapades." I didn't drop my guard, neither did I scream for help. "Pfft. As if. Three to one is quite a one-sided advantaged conversation, don't you think?" The robed figures retreated a step or two and held up their hands, palms raised upwards. Universal sign for peace and I'm-not-carrying-weapons-that-could-probably-pulverize-you-to-little-pieces.

"So… any chance of getting to see your faces too?" A firm shake of their heads was the answer. Draco looked strange as he crouched on the floor and snarled at the robed figures. I figured that was more than enough to keep them at bay. For now. The middle figure. Oh, heck with it. I'll call him: Guy #2. Guy 2 spoke up. "I see you have begun your training." I raised an eyebrow. "Wait. How do-." "But these people are dangerous. You are nothing but an experiment to them. NOTHING!" I was slightly taken aback by the sudden outburst. "And what makes you say THAT?" Guy 2 dropped down on one knee. "We have seen the others. They appear once every 100 years, only to be destroyed by this… organization. But you, my dear. YOU are special. You have powers beyond their imagination. They do not want you to know that. You could easily overthrow whatever holds this, this… _thing_ together. Come with us. We can make you stronger. Even stronger than you are now…."

I raised a finger to silence him and massaged my aching temples for a few minutes. "So YOU guys, after breaking in here undetected, cloaked and obviously without permission, are saying that YOU are the ones I should trust instead?" "Precisely." I let out a short huff of air and glared at them. "You guys might as well have waltzed in here in pink frilly tutus and say the world's biggest PRETZEL was on fire! I don't even know who the HELL you are. And I don't even want to know. What I do want to here from you… is a 'Goodbye' and 'we'll come visit another day when you aren't on the verge of a serious mental BREAKDOWN'!" Now it was their turn to be taken aback. Guy 3 even stumbled when I started yelling about the pretzel. (XD) Then after a moment of silence, Guy 1 nodded to his comrades. "We understand. We _will_ visit you another time." I yawned in a very unlady-like manner. "Yeah, yeah. Sure."

Suddenly, their bodies started to spasm really violently. I was almost compelled to ask them if they were okay but all of a sudden, huge bat-like wings exploded out of their backs. But it wasn't the elegant unfolding of wings which was what I saw whenever the others sprouted their wings. It looked… painful. With a little screech, they pushed of the tiled floor and swooped out through the glass dome above us. The alarm sounded as soon as the glass burst into little shards and rained down around us. But not all the pieces of glass had exploded. A large sharp piece was hurtling right down to the ground, straight at Draco.

_._

_.._

…

…_._

…_.._

…

"_Tsk, tsk, tsk. You'll kill yourself if you continue at this rate." My eyelids fluttered open as I slowly took in the familiar surroundings. I groggily got up and turned to smile sheepishly at Yumael. "I did it again, didn't I?" She sighed and came towards me. "You most certainly did. How many times do we have to remind you? The only person who MUST live is you. If you died and left the organization twice its size, they STILL wouldn't be able to beat the Zarikh. You'd better thank, Zeus that Draco saved you."_

_I saw her expression sadden as she spoke. "You miss him, don't you?" She jerked up, alarmed. "Does it show that much?" I nodded and smiled again. She took a deep breath and stroked my hair. "You should go back now. I'll let you take a break tonight. Oh, and Draco IS undergoing the same sudden growth spurts. I believe it is time for the two of you to spend more time together." I looked at her, puzzled. "Don't worry. I will speak to Sydney about it." I shrugged and nodded._

Suddenly, I was on the marbled floor, face down in…blood. I quickly sat up. Only then did I realize that Draco was cradled in my arms. But what surprised my even more was the fact that he was now 100% baby dragon. Adorable and winged. He had both his eyes squeezed tight and I quietly stroked his quivering body. What had happened?

_(Flashback)_

_A large shard of glass came hurtling straight towards Draco. I wasn't thinking straight as I saw him close his eyes. My mind was screaming at him to move, run, spread his wings and fly. But he didn't move a muscle. I didn't even consider my options as I leaped and grabbed him. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain pierce my side and everything went black._

_(End of Flashback)_

Draco's eyes fluttered open and he peered suspiciously at his surroundings. I was still petting him and he nuzzled into my arms. "Oh, so NOW you remember me." All he did was give me a little nudge and fell asleep. I inspected my hip and saw a tear in my uniform. As if something had pierced it. But my skin remained unblemished and without scar. _'I refuse to incur further into the matter. Now, where the HELL is everybody? Oh, right. I sent them out."_ I grinned at myself, sheepishly and strode towards the door. I was just about to reach for the door handle when the doors burst open and a rather red-faced Fang stormed in.

"Why is the alarm ringing? Why is there glass on the floor? Whose blood is on the floor? Why is Draco back to normal now? How did you do it? What the #$%#!* happened here? I smiled smugly at his somewhat interesting lack of composure. "We're fine. Questions later. Right now, lets see if we can tempt this little guy into waking up for some chow." His eyes narrowed suspiciously at my torn garment but nevertheless marched me out of the room to the conference room. As if someone had read my mind, there was food everywhere! Okay. Not everywhere. But there was a LOT of it. All steaming and piping hot. Everyone was already seated. I could tell their eyes were ready to bug out of their heads. I almost smirked but all of a sudden, the little critter in my arms twitched awake and sniffed the air hungrily.

Without warning he scrambled out of my arms and sailed onto the table. We just sat and watched as he gulped down almost all the meat on the table. The dessert soon disappeared. Everything _except_ the vegetables were gone! "Piglet." Draco burped unceremoniously and sluggishly made his way over to me and settled down in my lap with only the softest of snores he promptly fell asleep. Again. While he was out cold, I gave the others a quick summary of what had happened. Their faces were hard and serious when I had finished. Of course, I hadn't told them _everything_. "That was very dangerous. I'll have to discuss the security with others. Now we shall worry about your sudden healing abilities?" I shrugged. "That's an easy one. Yumael appeared and said Draco gave me a little fix-up." The twins stared, transfixed, at the dragon. "Did he now?"

Fang got up and started to throttle me. "YOU JUMPED IN FRONT OF HIM TO SAVE HIS LIFE WHEN YOU _KNOW_ YOURS IS MORE IMPORTANT?" I nodded slowly and tried to pry his vice-like grip open. He quickly released me and decided to smack his head instead repetitively. "In all the years I have lived-." "Which weren't that much longer than the ones I have-." He turned on me again. "Do NOT interrupt. Where was I? Oh, right. In all the years I have lived… NEVER have I met someone as _STUPID_ as you. You're making our job of protecting and educating you most… _difficult_!" I could tell he wanted to swear right there and then but the light shade of maroon he had turned was amusing enough to make me burst into fits of laughter.

The rest just looked at us, amused, but still worried. "You'd better go home and rest. There will be training next week." I nodded at Sydney and was about to put Draco down when she spoke again. "You may bring him home with you."

The next week flew by quickly. Draco spent most of his time in the house trashing things and turning back and forth from boy to dragon every chance he got. The best part was having him as a bolster/ bed warmer. He put on quite a bit while the servants wondered what had caused my increase in appetite. We had training almost every day and it was rather enjoyable. Fang and the twins didn't visit at all. I didn't even see them at school so I figured they were still trying to figure out what had cause the security breach during the strange confrontation that took place between me and a couple of cloaked figures.

School had just finished and I headed out to the gate to wait for the chauffeur. But he didn't show up. _'That's rare of him.'_ I thought. But nevertheless I made my way back home on foot. _'Lets take a shortcut.'_ I was halfway across the abandoned lawn a couple of blocks behind my house when a chill ran down my spine. I blinked once and was taken aback by the cloaked figures, about a dozen or so, surrounding me. I quickly put my cool-and-calm expression on and faced the tallest guy/thing.

"We have visited again, as promised." The hoarse, whispery voice did NOTHING to calm my nerves. "Yeah, I can see that. And this time you brought the iBully inc." One or two of the things hissed at me and I glared at them. "We do not wish to fight you. We only want to take you to our master. He has expressed his desire to speak with you." The tallest figure bowed stiffly and cocked his head to the side inquiringly. "Let's say, for argument sake, I DON'T want to go with you. What would you do?" "We shall have to take you by _force!_" It said the last word so menacingly I couldn't help but shiver.

Suddenly, the biggest one lunged at me with its arms held open. I dodged and aimed a kick in its midsection, only to have another one of the things attack me from behind. I whirled around and sucker punched it in the gut. Another one came. _"Wow. This one's fast.'_ I thought to myself as I quickly sidestepped its attack and aimed a roundhouse kick at it. All of a sudden a leg collided with my stomach and I stumbled back a few paces to glare at the creature that had kicked me. The adrenaline was pumping in me and I challenged myself to take them all down without the use of my magic. So there I was kicking and punching and tackling them for all was worth. But every time I knocked one down another one replaced it. The maddening thing was that they all came one by one, giving the other time to recover.

It wasn't like the combat training I had with Fang and the others. These guys were trained fighters and had a high level tolerance for pain. I knew how high exactly because I was hitting them with all my strength. I had managed to stab three of them with a large piece of wood on the ground when a huge cloud of darkness knocked into me. I was knocked back and started to get up. Oh, joy. My legs wouldn't move. My whole body was paralyzed by the magic. I tried to break it and mustered up everything to remember about counter spells but remembered that I wanted to beet all these bastards without magic. _'What the hell is wrong with you? You are on the verge of being beaten to pulp and you don't want to use your most powerful weapon because of a self-challenge?'_ I wanted to scream but like I said, I was incapable of ANY movement.

Suddenly I felt something burning inside my chest. It was warm and I wanted to get it out. Bit by bit I could feel my body rejecting the magic. I could see my skin glowing with warmth and I watched in horror as my body _burst_ into flames. I wasn't in control of myself anymore. My body was now a good few feet off the ground and I could only look as the flames surrounding my body fired off and surrounded the cloaked beings one at a time. Those that tried to run off were quickly encircled my fire and burnt to a crisp. It was like watching a gory cooking show actually.

When the last figure disintegrated into powdery nothingness, the flames dissipated and my body fell onto the hard soil. Face met grass as the two collided to form a solid 'thump'. I could here footsteps approaching as if in a run. I felt myself slipping away into darkness yet again. _'Why is she ALWAYS fainting?'_ Tell me about it. I was getting sick and tired of it myself. As if I needed anymore surprises, I heard someone kneel next to me, check my pulse and pull me into a tight hug. I was quite shocked. For two reasons: That I was still conscious and that the person hugging me was Fang. I was too tired to protest but I almost had a grand mal seizure when I felt a pair of warm lips cover my own. If my eyes were open, they would've fallen out of my head. This could NOT be happening.

_**(Fang's pov)**_

I didn't know what to do. I was taking a quick walk to Raven's house to let her know of the on-going inspection when I heard screams and crackling sounds. I started to run at breakneck speed and found my feet taking me to an abandoned field. But it wasn't abandoned anymore. All around me, Thorakh were dropping like flies. Not only were they dropping. They were also burning. Like on fire, burning. And what made my jaw practically fall from my face was the source of the flames. About ten feet off the ground was Raven. Her body encased in flames and her hands outstretched towards the demons. I did a double take when the last Thorakh turned into a living (?) 'Bomb Alaska' and her body started to fall. I couldn't get to her in time and she fell with a sickening thud onto the grass.

I knelt down beside her and felt for her wrist, almost sure of what I would _not_ find there. I mean, how many near death experiences could one person go through? But her pulse was still there. Steady and strong. I couldn't help but feel waves or a practical tsunami of relief wash over my body. The only thought that flashed through my mind was _'She's unconscious. So if I do this I will not be killed.'_ I picked up her limp body and held on to her as if MY life were in danger. She was so slim and fragile looking. But so strong and amazingly freaky. In a seriously good way. _'Ah, what the hell.'_ I couldn't take it anymore. This amazing girl that had just walked into my life had been through nothing any of us should experience and I could do nothing to help her. I bent down to capture her lips in my own. Only two words could describe what I was feeling. Pure bliss.

Red let out a huge bark of laughter as he, Sydney, the twins and Fang sat opposite Raven. She had just finished her retelling of the incident and also explained the reason for the glowing hand print on Fang's left cheek. "So lem'me get this straight? After shish-kebab-ing let's say about a dozen Thorakh, you fell, broke a rib, and played a game of slap-and-tickle with our buddy, Fang over here." A vein must've popped up because Red let out a "cough" and bid a hasty farewell. The rest followed suit and I turned to glare at Fang who stared right back at me. After what seemed like an _eternity_, he raised his palms towards me. "Before you start biting and clawing at my ego and shredded pride, I just want you to know that I do not. Repeat. NOT. Regret what I did."

_**(Raven's pov)**_

(SFX: Crickets)

"…" Fang cringed and slowly looked up. I swear, I would've shot him there and then if he hadn't put on that adorab-. Right. Puppy face." I couldn't help but sigh. Suddenly I felt a slight heat rush to my face. Was I blushing? What was going on?

_(Flashback)_

_It was dark and I couldn't see anything. Maybe because my eyes were closed. Whatever. I was aware of a hot tingling sensation on my lips but something was telling me not to pay too much attention to that. Then I could've sworn my eyes shot open faster than a shotgun pellet in a vacuum. My hand immediately hit the closest thing I could find. Unfortunately, when my eyes adjusted to the sudden burst of light, I was on my butt in dry, burnt (?) grass with Fang lying almost 10 feet away from me. Whoops._

_(End of Flashback)_

Why'd he have to go do that anyways? It was bad enough I get the bloody budders in my stomach every single bloomin' time he strikes up conversation. "So…" Like now. "Rae?" and now. "Are you still mad at me?" I 'harumph-ed' and decided not to look at him. Because I knew he was definitely gonna pull the puppy face on me. Again. "Go away. I'm pissed at you." I heard a sniffle. No way. Was the dude crying? I whirled around and was immediately greeted by two big black eyes clouded with tears. His lips were quivering as he tilted his head up to stare at me. _"NOOO! HOW DARE HE?" _I quickly turned back around but the image was burned into my brain like a hot iron imprint. _"ARGH! Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't-. ACH!"_ "Oh, F*# it all! Fine, fine. I forgive you. Now STOP that!" He jumped up and leaned down to peck me on the cheek.

'_DEFLECTION RAY!'_ "Oh, NO you don't!" I quickly X'd my hands in front of my face and caught a quick glance at him as his face coloured. "Oh. Sorry." I sighed. "Now get out." I heard him retreat and softly close the door before I rested my head into my arms. Now for some thinking. And NOT the perverted kind. _'Why did the Thorakh come after me? What was going on? Why was their "master" so intent in speaking with me? What should I do if they come get me in a public area… like school? Should I tell them what's going on? Maybe I SHOULD go with them next time. If there IS a next time. Will the attacks stop if I do?'_ I inhaled, exhaled and raised my head. Suddenly a glint of light caught my attention. Near the door, under a chair was a small bottle full of liquid. I walked over and reached down to retrieve it. 'Eye Drops'. "…" I turned to the door. 'BANG!' "FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!"

After thoroughly pummeling the idiot and successfully knocking him into twelve different walls, I progressed into directing my frustration at my combat training. It was fun. They had a new simulator and stuff. Huge bat-like figures that were supposed to resember Thorakh would drop randomly from the ceiling or pop out of the walls and we would have to kill as many as we could in 10 minutes. I flicked it up a couple of levels, hit the button and prepared myself. As I stood in the middle of the room, the lights flashed around me and burst into a million shards. I quickly shielded my eyes. Without warning, one of the figures fell from the roof. I took a good look at it and the first thought that came to mind was: _'Hey, look! This one looks exactly like the real-.'_ "BONK!"


	10. Chapter 10: Hades

_**Chapter 10: Hades…**_

"_Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…Thunk!"_ What happened? _"Brrrrrrrrrrrrr…whir…thunk! Tick, tick, TICK!"_ Ouch. My head pounded like the devil had just taken a stab at it with his little fork-thingy. What do you call those? Pitchforks? No. Ah, a triton. Wait. What? I peeled open my eyes and I was almost blinded by… nothing? Huh! I was half expecting a bright stream of light. Like in those police dramas. It was pitch black and all I could hear were the sounds of gears grinding against one another. Two long poles were moving side by side. It was almost as if I were inside of a huge… CLOCK!

What was I doing in Big Ben? I looked around as my eyes slowly adjusted to the dark. I had memorized the interior of this architectural masterpiece and there was not denying the fact that I was inside the most well-known time-telling utensil in the entire world. There was a dim light spewing through the roof of the room I was in. Hmm… I must've been placed in the lower half of the clock face. But how did I get all the way to London?

There is not way those creatures could've carried me all the way here without getting noticed. Maybe they didn't. While I pondered the possibilities, the door to my far left creaked open and the hideous monstrosity I had grown rather used to entered. It bowed slightly, if that's what you would call the small bending of its body, and spoke in that raspy I-need-a-lozenge voice. "Finally, you have come." I gave him a 'DUH' look and quickly interrupted. "Well, actually, I was abducted. I didn't come of my own free will or even out of intuition. So the fact that you just said 'finally, you have-." "SILENCE!" I grinned. Mission successful. So far.

"My master has been greatly displeased. But now that we have you here, he would like you to have an audience with him." I nodded placidly. "The last dozen or so of your buddies I, what was the word, yeah, shish-kebab-ed, told me that exact same thing. What a coincidence. So, if you could just untie me right now, I would probably go see this master guy of yours just so you can stop nagging me." The creature hissed as I grinned back at it. "How can you puny humans talk so much?" He pulled out a knife and I thought I had pushed him a bit too far before it slashed at the rope around my ankles. I stood up, wobbled and was just about to thank him when he poked me in the back with the dagger. _'Oh, now you've done it. Just for that, no thank yous.' _We walked the rest of the way down dark, dank hallways with it poking my back like it was trying to impale me on the thing.

"Cut that out!" It poked me even harder. I wanted to turn around and bitch slap it but it gave me one last shove and I stumbled into a large room. Bats hung from every crevice and rung from the ceiling. Some of them were perched on the chairs and tables in the room. The only source of light was the stream coming from a large window. It shone directly onto a large ivory throne. I thought it was beautiful before I saw what it was made of. Large bones were polished and skulls were placed at the tips of the armrest. All in all your typical bad-guys office chair. The creature sitting on it was nothing to speak of either. But you could actually tell its gender this time. But as I got closer I saw his form shift and fuse into a handsome youngish man dressed entirely in a black suit.

I finally reached the foot of the slightly elevated throne and allowed the others a minute to ogle me before turning my direction towards the guy slung on the cushions. "So… what's up?" I put on my best casual look and stared him down… up… whichever way you would like it. "So the blue-eyed wonder decides to join us." His voice was like millions of little spiders crawling up my arm. I felt a shiver tingle down my spine as I continued the staring match. "She hasn't decided ANYTHING! It just so happens that she was abducted against her own free will, had sharp objects poked into her back and a rope burn enough to scathe the devils own butt." I heard a sharp intake of breath and a few snickers behind me. Obviously I was one of the rare ones who could get a way with a swipe at this guy in charge and they were taking full advantage of it.

"Oh, how rude of them!" His exclamation mark was so genuine I almost believed him for a second. He snapped his fingers and a long dark thing flew from behind the throne at breakneck speed and the only thing I saw were its glinting razor fangs sinking inside the neck of the Thorakh that had brought me to the "throne-room". A piercing scream slashed through the heavy atmosphere and the dank, stale air now had a rusty smell of dried blood. I took another glance at the attacker and saw that it was a HUGE python. WAY bigger than the one wrapped around Sydney 24/7. It's eyes glowed blood red. I almost laughed at the cliché. The scene was straight out of a movie. I even had to check to make sure I wasn't pinching myself. The urgency to close my eyes and wake up to find that this was all a bad dream was overwhelming.

The man on the throne sat there smiling as his little pet chewed up the remains of the writhing Thorakh. The bone-crunching sounds were enough to deafen people in a twenty mile radius as they echoed around the room. "As you can see, I do put the manners of my people of first priority. Now to the introductions." He raised his eyebrow at me. I shrugged. "You first." He chuckled lightly. "Spunk. I like it." I rolled my eyes. "Actually my dear, I believe you already know." He took a step towards me and extended his hand. "Hades – God of the Underworld. I believe we were acquainted in the past life." I knew it. I'm sure my abductors must've knocked me around quite a bit for me not to figure that out. _'Should I shake his hand? What if I do the defensive thing? Will he think I'm already weary and just get rid or me? Maybe he'll think I'm scared. Do I want him to think that?'_ The answer was 'NO'. I slowly raised my hand.

Suddenly, I heard another scream. But this one was more human. Three of the biggest Thorakh I had seen so far swooped through the window. But they were slightly different from the other Thorakh. Their bat wings were thicker and their veined fluid covered bodies were a darker, bloodier red. What made me want to throw up was the fact that between them, they carried a person. Just a normal man…. With wings? (0.0) Wait. He was one of us. I mean me. Screw how grammatically wrong that was. I heard him gasp as he tried to pull himself from the merciless grip of the creatures. "Now my children, what you have brought before me and my guest is rather unnerving. Why don't you go find a table and eat somewhere private? Don't forget to clean up the mess later."

His voice was beautiful and melodic as he reprimanded them like a mother, but I still couldn't stop the chill from raising the hairs on my neck and arms. And Raven's instincts are rarely mistaken. All I could do was stare and watch as the red Thorakh pulled the almost lifeless body to a corner and began ripping his limbs apart. Blood flew in different directions as they pulled off chunks of his flesh and to my utter horror, they began to eat it. It was absolutely repulsive, but I couldn't help and notice that they had left the wings completely untouched. Not that they looked like it tasted disgusting, but they regarded it with weary eyes and continuously sneaked suspicious glances at it. They squinted as if the dull, dirtied thing was messing with their vision. Or maybe it DID. I stored this little piece of information away for another day… if I ever lived to see one.

"Those are my new inventions. Quite pleasant… when their locked up." His smile widened as I slowly twitched into defensive mode. "What do you want with me?" "Ah, I almost forgot. We were having such _fun_." Another wave of nausea washed over me as I heard another ripping sound but I remained silent. Better to not put myself in a compromising position. "Well, my darling, as you can well see, we are preparing for a war. With someone I believe you are quite familiar with by now – the Zarikh." I raised my eyebrows but listened intently. No surprises there. "As the organization these _things_ are involve in, he jerked his hand towards the blood on the cold stone, you already know the story. BUT, do you know the _true_ intentions of these blasphemous creatures?" I could feel my forehead crease slightly. "Confused now are we? Did they tell you that in – at the very least – six months, that beast will appear? Did they tell you that almost _none _of them believe that you'll complete your training in time? You see, because your shielding made you hard to detect, they now have limited time to prepare you for the Zarikh's resurrection."

Those words hit me. _'They didn't trust me? NONE of them think I can do it? Then what are they actually planning to do? Why do they even bother?'_ "Because they have no other option." I jerked up. "Do you think they would actually give a care about you if you weren't 'The Chosen One'?" I glared at him. "That's it! Cut the crap. Send me back. I don't need to take any of this rubbish from you or ANYONE else!" I turned around and headed for the door. "Oh! Did I happen to mention that their theory that your music will be able to calm the Zarikh is an absolute _LIE_?" His voice rang clearly as it echoed all around the hall as I stopped dead in my tracks. Slowly I turned around. "What?" My voice was barely heard, even by myself, but he smirked. "Yes. Your music is not needed. Not for anything. I'm sure you've even had visits from Yumael as well. She's the one who plans everything. This organizations prayer isn't to the Zarikh. No. They are all advocates of the siren-goddess."

My head spun with the new information. _'Yumael had planned this? All of it?'_ "If my music or voice is not needed, then what am I doing here in the first place?" He slowly advanced towards me, the smirk remained. "They wish to _sacrifice_ you to the beast." I reeled back. I felt the shock slowly register as I dropped my head to face the tiles. _'Sacrifice? Why? Couldn't they just have tied me up and kept me until mister beastie showed up? And how does Hades know so much?'_ I saw his hands reach up to my face. I wanted to dart back, but the shock had rooted me to the spot. I felt his hand brush my eyes as he wiped away the tears I hadn't notice before. _'Why am I crying?'_ "Poor child. Betrayed by the people who had first granted you hope. The most crushing emotion to ever walk this universe. Hope." I gazed up slowly. His face was full of nothing but sympathy and his eyes were black abysses. I could see nothing in them but a reflection of my face and the tears streaming down my cheeks.

"There, there. Why do you cry for the people who never will for you?" His voice was so kind and gentle. "If you join me and my people. We will protect you. There's always another way to defeat the Zarikh. My people and I have been trying to make contact with the reincarnated Dragon Child's but they were always completely influenced by the organization, never knowing the threat they faced before it was too late. Now we have a chance to save you. Let us protect you and you will help us. There are always other ways of solving this problem and we shall help each other along." He once again extended his hand. I felt my resolve and trust slip away from me with my tears. I slowly raised my hand. "Help me… Soreya."

_**Back at HQ…**_

_(Fang's pov)_

I was pacing back and forth. What else was there to do? Sydney had just called us for a conference to discuss the sudden disappearance of several members when the alarm blared around us. Sirens wailed as we ran to the source… the new simulation room. Raven was there just a moment ago. The surveillance cameras were smashed into tiny bits and glass was all over the floor. We found small spots of blood but nothing else. It was as it she had disappeared as well. Well, needles to say, our hopes that she had simply gone for a coffee break were smashed when we found small pieces of black, leathery material. These were similar to samples of Thorakh wings we had in the lab.

Then Sydney HAD to go and initiate temporary shutdown. Our system had been broken into TWICE! Who wouldn't be frustrated? But no one could get in or go _OUT!_ Oh, and that was the most important bit because _**we had to find out where Raven was**_! Some people just didn't get urgency… I sighed and slammed a chair into the wall. Ouch! That was gonna leave a dent in the linoleum. But who gives a !#$!%#$%#. Oh, and in case you're wondering what walls are lined with linoleum that can stand level 7 earthquakes off the Richter scale, it was kind of like a lock up cell. Why was I in there? Simple. Sydney initiated lockdown, I blew a hissy fit, punched a couple (okay, more than that) of guys and then the twins conked me out.

I was about to just throw my head back and scream when suddenly the twins came though the doors. "We can hear you throw things you know?" I groaned. "If you came in here to calm me down, you're not succeeding." I stubbornly shut my eyes and blocked my mind but nothing came. I dared a peek at them but they were still staring sullenly at me. Without any noise, they had slowly moved all the detachable objects in the room to _their_ side of the room. "What now?" They shrugged. "Sydney says she'll let _us_ out to look for Raven if you stop throwing things. So we came in to help." I glared at them. "You didn't have to remove everything in the room just to make sure. If it's to go look for that idiot, of course I'll stop throwing things." The twins glanced briefly at each other. I growled lightly and sat on the bed. "So, how long is she giving me?" They smiled and sat down next to me. "5 minutes. Red gave you 2." I smiled back. "Then, lets surprise them."

_(End of pov)_

_(Raven's pov)_

I snapped back. _'Soreya? That's not my name. He still thinks I'm the real one?_ I pulled my hand back at lightning speed. The words still resounded melodically in my head but now they were more forceful. Almost _too _melodic. _'Hmph! Try to mesmerize me now, eh?'_ I took a slow step back and smirked at him. He looked confused but I could see his disciplined maintenance of a caring expression. A nerve twitched and he took a tentative step towards me. "Soreya?" My smile grew into a menacing snarl. "That's _not_ my name. Now that you've given me a little hand at confusion, I've come to a conclusion." His face twitched. "What on earth do you mean, my dear?" "I don't really care what's going on between you and the organization. My answer is 'no'." He recoiled.

"Why? If you come to our side, you may resist being their next sacrifice. You're nothing but a TOOL to their side!" he was shouting now. I slowly bent my knees as much as not to be noticed. "Pfft. Your side? Their side? I'm on MY side." And with that I had enough annoyance pumped into my veins to snap my wings out as hard as I could to generate a gust of wind, knocking a few Thorakh into the walls. As the light burst through the room, I heard screams as I raced across the rooms and grabbed the wings left by the wall. With a quick rush of speed I smashed through the window. The glass scratched my arms and face but my last look at Hades and his face contorted in anger, throwing a bitch-fit, screaming "GET HER! GET HER YOU USELESS SONOFA!%$#%^#%^%!" was compensation enough. Now the problem was… how to be getting home?

_(End of pov)_

_**Somewhere outside the perimeter of said location…**_

_(Fang's pov)_

"Alright, team. We have exactly 10 minutes to get in there, tear up the place and find Raven." As soon as the words 'tear up' left my mouth, I could see the others tuning out my voice. Only sheer will was holding back my exasperated groan. "Oh, and if ANY of you are actually _thinking_ logically… Raven is the _main_ priority. GOT IT?" Red raised the visor on his multi-function sensor goggles and rolled his eyes at me. "Relax and take a load off, grandma. We got this all down a pat. We'll be in and out before you can say '' with your damsel in distress." This time, I DID groan. Loudly. "Shut up, Red! Put your damn goggles back on, Red." Sydney was obviously just as agitated as I was. She had said Red's name. TWICE! In the same SENTENCE! Obviously, Red had ALSO noticed and had no trouble informing the twins who were acting back-up in the back of a pest-control vehicle with winks and nudges. Rented of course.

Sydney's glare though was enough to put Red's goof-balling to a stop. "Remember guys. We do not. Repeat. NOT. Want a repeat performance of the Russian incident." Everyone drew a breath. The Russian incident was not something Sydney brought up often enough for it to be a _normal_ situation. "What's the Russian incident?" I waved off the question with my hand. "Everyone knows about the Russian incident. I'm surprised no one told you, Rae." I stopped short of a heart attack. Red fell off the seat. "RAVEN?"

_(End of pov)_

_**On the way back to HQ…**_

"You have some _explaining_ to do, little miss!" Red's expression was pissed. _'Red look's pissed.'_ Raven's eyes scanned the small area just in case she needed to fend herself from anybody. Sydney sighed. "Don't take it out on her just because you didn't get to exhibit your not-so-elegant pounding action." The twins were back at the computers, hacking into the global-London security system. "No obvious damages. Only a small tourist group. Five Eurasians. Middle-aged. One minor. We're sending some guys to do a patch-up. You smashed through a window, you say?" Raven turned her attention to the multiple screens in front of the twins. "Yep… third from the right. The one right under the clock."

"We have a visual shot. We'll send in others to clean that mess up later." Alex nodded at us. "In the mean time, we can talk about your lovely _'escapade'_." I felt a small vein pop up. "Well… you see… um… how do I put this… It actually happened a couple of days back…"

_**5 minutes later…**_

_(Raven's pov)_

"You did WHAT?" "You sand WHAT?" "He said WHO?" "It did WHAT?" All these questions were directed at me (in particularly loud Caps locks) in unison. So… here's a recap. I'd just finished telling Red, Sydney and the twins (Fang had mysteriously disappeared) about the parts I _happened_ to not mention during my first encounter with the Thorakh. You know… about how they wanted me to meet their master and all that jazz. (Yes, I _conveniently _left out Hades' speech) The questions pretty much started popping in at around that moment. But the most embarrassing was then I recalled my mistaking a real Thorakh for the simulated one and getting knocked out in one hit. "It was a pretty hard hit." I mumbled feeble as Red and the twins cackled on the floor. It was hopeless. Even Sydney was giving that god-awful sneering smile. I stood up and walked out of the room with whatever dignity I had left.

I groaned as I searched different rooms (the ones I were allowed into) looking for the idiot who passed up the chance to tease me. Which, by the way, is a real 'WTF' moment. I finally reached the last room. Duh! Simulation room. Why didn't I think of that? The red light was on (which in case some of you don't realize either means STOP! Or Do Not Enter!) But I rammed in anyway. (Do not try this at home kids) Because what happened next is just waaay to boring to document I'll do this in point form.

-Me opens door… Forcefully

-Alarm goes 'BEEP' 'BEEP'

-Foot comes flying at me face

But luckily I blocked it in time. Of course I did. If I didn't I would be lying on my back in the middle of someone else's bed. Wait… what am I doing here? Oh, yeah… he DID kick me. In the gut actually. Mostly due to shock. Or else he would have clobbered my head and I would be in a hospital instead. (But nuff said about that! =.=) I sat up and glared at Fang, sitting in a corner. He glowered right back at me. "Well?" He moaned a little and looked up, exasperated. "I can't take this anymore." Standing up and walking over to me, amidst great protest (by me) he crushed me into him, my head resting against his chest. "I'm sorry. You scared the blinking HECK outta me. You disappeared without a trace. I thought you left me." The heart-breaking voice of his was enough to melt ANYBODY!

"Uh-." He cut me off again. "Don't you ever, _ever_ do that again. You could have been hurt. I've no doubt in your combat abilities but _please_ give me some form of security. I searched all around for you." I struggled just enough to loosen his hold and lifted myself to my knees so I was at eye level with him. His eyes were black pools tempting to absorb the very life out of me. I sighed and reached up to hold his face in my hands. "First of all, I was in more danger of getting hurt when you kicked me out of the blue compared to being kidnapped by Thorakh and mesmerized by Hades. Second of all… *sigh* I can't and I _won't_ go _anywhere_. So you can relax for now." His arms settled around my waist and his head dropped to my shoulders. "I'm sorry." I casually stroked his hair, running my fingers through it. "Shhh…it's not your fault. Stop apologizing." His voice was thick as he breathed on my neck. "But I could have been there. I could have done something to help you. But I couldn't even save you before you saved yourself." I smiled. It did sound kinda funny when he put it that way. I just nodded and held him for that moment we shared.

_(End of pov)_

_**In the lab…**_

"What've you got for us, Eva?" A young lady, in her mid-thirties. Attractive, bespectacled and donning a white coat looked up. "'Ello, Eduardo." Her French accent was thick and accentuated. "Ve 'av 'ere some very interesting find. Who did you zey found zis, again?" Red smiled. "That's confidential for now. But please do me the honour of filling me in. Icy wants the know." She nodded and smiled, her petite frame leaning back against the chair. "Ah, yes. And 'ow iz Sydney? Ve 'aven't seen each ozzer for qvite some time." Red pulled up another chair. "She's doing great. Better than ever actually. And I'll make sure she'll visit _personally_ next time." She nodded and turned back to the screen.

She tapped a few keys and one of the two wings Raven had brought back levitated in one of the cylindrical tanks. After a quick scan, an exact copy appeared on the screen. "Now… our DNA scans show zat zees vings belong to vun of our organizations top assassin, Johann Krist Von Berret. It appears zat zees vings vere cut off from ze body vit an extremely sharp veapon, easily mistaken for a newly sharpened object. But if you look closer, you can see jagged indentations at ze tip vere ze vings meet shoulder blades." Red nodded. "So what you're saying is that the wings were ripped off. But I don't see anything interesting about that.

It's happened before. What I really want to know is HOW they killed our BEST assassin?" Eva smirked. "Patience, Eduardo. Ze rips ver med by _teeth_." Red let out a low whistle. "So now you're telling me that something _ate_ Johann?" Eva nodded. "But what on earth would be ABLE to catch, immobilize and _eat_ an E-level, weapon authorized, winged AND 7th rank gift-possessing, _assassin_? The last time I checked, it was an _assassin's _job to _assassinate_."

She sighed and nodded again. "I can agree wit you zat eet is qvuite _difficult_ to keel such a top-level member, but it is not wizout it's possibilitees. 'E could 'ave been caught unaware or up against many strong enemies by 'imself." Red had to reluctantly agree that these were some acceptable possibilities. But Eva interrupted his thoughts again. "But I am also curious to see vut kind of creature could attack, keel, consume and _digest_ someone such as Johann."

Red smiled at her blunt humour and stood up from his chair. "Leaving already?" Red patted her shoulder. "I'll come visit again. Have to let Sydney get a load of THIS. Thanks, Eva. I promise, I'll bring her next time." Eva let out a snide smile. "She is not ze only vun I vant to see." Red didn't respond but his body language was easily read as a giant 'how-did-she-know' triple question mark. He nodded anyway and took his leave. _'Oh, boy. This could get messy.'_

_**Later in the conference room…**_

Sydney hummed with impatience. It was a rare sight to see her agitated and she knew it. But it couldn't be helped. All in the same day, her Dragon Child ward had been abducted and possibly influenced by her kidnappers, brought back a pair of wings yet to be determined belonging to whom and everyone was acting as if things like this happen everyday. It was excruciatingly frustrating. Anyone could tell at first glance that Sydney Lindren was NOT one for surprises. Nor did she like being kept waiting. And someone by the name of Eduard Cutter was about to find out just how _much_ she didn't like it.

She was about to get up and start pacing (also a very un-Sydney-like character) when Eduard walked in carrying a few sheets of data. Sydney immediately impaled him with a glare. "_What_ on earth could have taken you so long?" He looked up from the papers and smiled lazily. "Oh, _nothing_ much." *insert melting smile here* Sydney growled and grabbed the papers. "Give me those." Eduard quickly reached to grab them back. "Wait, those aren't-." "Add two cups of flour to the batter while mixing gently and then add the eggs until turn's yell-." Eduard sighed. "…" Sydney looked up. "_What_ is this?" He grabbed the papers back and grunted. "Nothing that would interest you. He reached behind him and pulled out another sheaf of papers. "_These_ are the reports. Enjoy. Take your time." Sydney walked away and sat down with the practiced self-control of a truly well trained politician.

After a quick read-through (and when I say quick, I _mean_ quick) Sydney dropped the papers onto the table and rested her chin in her hands, hand folded facing downwards. "Teeth marks…" Eduard simply nodded. "Then I suppose we would have to conclude that Hades has succeeded in creating a new breed of Thorakh. Ones not easily dealt with." Eduard came to collect the papers in a neat pile. Despite their appearances and attitude, he was the OCD neat-freak while she was the behind-the-scenes panic-attack-just-waiting-to-happen. "I've already doubled the training for _all_ the members on account that information on newly developed Thorakh that have been produced. Sources remain trusted and _private_." She nodded and looked up at Eduard who was arranging the pages on a side table. "Thank you." She said softly. He knew this routine well enough and said nothing. Smiling happily on the inside, he bowed slightly. "I shall take my leave now if there is nothing else to see to." Sydney inclined her head. "I'll handle the rest. Take a break for now." This time he did smile and walked out.


End file.
